The Engagement Question
by bsblchick82
Summary: Basically this story is based on the movie "The Proposal" starring Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds, but starring Jade and Beck. Bade with mentions of Candre.
1. Chapter 1

**This is an AU story loosely based on the movie "The Proposal" starring Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds. While watching the movie I pictured Bade as the leads, and was inspired to write this story.**

**For the purposes of this story, Beck is still from Canada, but has a dual citizenship in the United States, and Jade is from Italy (because it's a country I haven't visited yet but is number one on my 'to visit' list). I will be taking certain liberties with the characters and changing different aspects of the story, but the general idea will stay the same. No offense to any fans of specific characters because I like all of them, but some will not be appearing in this story as often as others *cough* Tori and Robbie *cough* simply because either they aren't A-relevant to the story, or B-I'm not comfortable enough yet writing for them. Also sorry to all of the Tandre and Cabbie fans (I honestly think both couples are really cute and read stories featuring both), but I loved Candre as a couple in TWC so that pairing will be in this story as well.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own either the movie "The Proposal" or the television show "Victorious." **

**Side Note: This is my very first attempt at writing a story on here so any and all reviews are welcome-good, bad, and ugly. Thanks and I hope I can do justice to this amazing fandom with my little story :)**

**CHAPTER 1**

At only 25 years old, Jade West is one of the youngest, most well-known, and respected/feared movie directors in the industry. Her impeccable vision and talent is shown in every movie she makes. She also has a fierce personality and the ability to socially and emotionally crush anyone who stands in her way. Her jet black hair helps her image, along with the multitude of colorful highlights she weaves into it on a daily basis. Her most striking feature, however, is her eyes. One can often tell what mood Jade is in before she even opens her mouth, just by taking one look into those expressive pools of blue.

Growing up in the Italian countryside, Jade often dreamed of becoming a famous actress. She has always had beautifully pale porcelain-like skin, which she thought would be an asset to any director looking for a leading lady, but sadly for Jade, her career in front of the camera was not meant to be. Every time she went to audition for a leading role, she would end up having to compete against the same girl. It didn't take too long for Jade to decide that enough was enough. After losing one too many roles to Tori "cheekbones" Vega, Jade decided that she would turn the tables and find a job which allowed her to boss around both people like Tori, and any others she deemed as unimportant.

She had been on the set of her latest movie for about 5 minutes, trying to have a conversation with her friend Cat, and waiting on her assistant to bring her usual morning beverage, when she was surprised by a couple of executives from the movie's studio. They requested an urgent meeting with her. She asked the men to wait in the conference room for just a minute, and she would be right with them. The men acquiesced, and went inside to wait on Jade. Seeing as how no one else was around, Jade gave Cat a message to relay to her assistant. Putting faith in the fact that Cat would actually deliver that message without screwing it up too badly, Jade turned and made her way into the meeting room where the men were waiting.

/

Beck Oliver is a stereotypical handsome guy. He is olive-skinned with shoulder length fluffy black hair in which he constantly running his fingers through. He body is of average stature. His muscles are not as big as a body builder, but the ones he does have are extremely well-defined. He was born and raised in Canada and came to America to try and make it as an actor in Hollywood. Similarly to Jade though, things so far haven't work out as well has he had hoped.

For the past 3 years Beck has worked as Jade's assistant. Is he the Assistant Director one might ask? Sadly, that answer is no. Poor Beck is simply Ms. West's personal assistant-doing all of the menial activities required to keep Jade from exploding into a murderous rage at any and every one who is unfortunate enough to cross her path. Beck is known as a saint to all who work on Jade's movie sets, for he is the only person able to withstand her tirades without either crying or fainting, and doesn't get on her bad side as much as other people on set tend to do.

It is a gorgeous Autumn Wednesday morning, and Beck is currently on his way to the set with Jade's coffee in hand ("black with two sugars-get it wrong and you'll be wearing it" she had told him that very first day...and every day ever since), reminiscing over the last three years of his life and wondering why he is still Jade's assistant and not an actor.

/

**3 Years Ago**

_Beck Oliver and his best friend Andre Harris moved to Hollywood a couple months ago and Beck had been very grateful to have his best friend with him in this new and exciting city. They shared a one-bedroom apartment and alternated between sleeping in the bedroom and the sleeper sofa in the living room. It was decided that even though Andre was crazy talented in music composition and had a great singing voice, he would initially focus on being Beck's agent and use Beck's roles as a means to get into the business himself._

_It was nearing the end of their second month of living in California and the boys were beginning to run out of money. Beck is ironically from a very wealthy family back in Canada, but after a fight with his father (a story for another time) he vowed to never ask his parents for money-he was going make it on his own. Just yesterday, however, the guys had been informed by their landlord that they would have 2 weeks to come up with the rent for this past month or else they would be evicted. _

_Beck was contemplating breaking down and actually calling his parents to ask for some little money when Andre burst through the door and told Beck that he had just landed Beck an audition for the lead male role in the then up-and-coming director Jade West's new movie (coincidentally she also wrote the script). The movie was not a romance film, but rather a horror film because that's what kind Jade loves the most. _

_Beck was hesitant at first to act in a horror film, but with his looks Beck knew he'd be typecast in the business as just another handsome guy who can only act in romantic films, and decided to try out for this role in order to prevent that from happening._

_He was currently sitting in the waiting room with Andre and getting ready for his turn to audition. _

_"Next" a commanding voice called from inside the audition room._

_Beck took one last look at his script, stood up from his seat, accepted a pat a back and a "good luck" from Andre, and walked into the room with his head held high and an aura of cool confidence, but not arrogance around him. Even though it was his very first formal audition as an actor, he knew he really had nothing to lose so what was the point of being nervous?_

_He opened his mouth to speak, yet only got out a "Hi my name is B..." before being interrupted by none other than Jade herself._

_"Yeah yeah whatever-just get on with the audition and pretend like you can do any justice to my superiorly written script."_

_"Umm okay" Beck said. He then took a breath and began his audition..._

_Beck had not even gotten out two lines before Jade harshly yelled out, "You can stop now."_

_He really wanted to know how he did, but he didn't dare ask because he was trying not to get kicked out of the room when this could be the role that gives him his big break into show business. Instead he just stood there glancing coolly, or so he hoped that's how his face looked, at Jade and the rest of panel. _

_The panel consisted of Jade, a synthetically dyed red haired girl who kept giggling every few seconds and in whose mouth Jade would shove handfuls of cereal into after each giggle until she could no longer make a sound, a curly-haired weird looking guy wearing what one would term "nerdy" glasses and talking to a what appeared to be a puppet sitting in front of him on the table, and a dark haired girl with ridiculously high cheekbones and an award winning smile that she flashed at Beck every time he glanced in her direction._

_After what seemed like an hour, but was in reality only a few minutes of the panel discussing (well basically Jade talking and the rest just nodding and going along with whatever she said) when Jade finally turned back to Beck and said, "Well it was not as good as I had hoped, but it was decent. You're not getting the part though because I can't stand the way Vega keeps staring at you and smiling stupidly."_

_"What? I was not doing that!" the brunette (who was apparently Vega) exclaimed._

_"Yeah you did so shut it before I kick you off my movie."_

_"Well thanks for the opportunity. I'll just be going now" Beck stated while trying not to look too dejected._

_"Wait" he heard just as he was about to walk out the door._

_He turned around and raised his eyebrow while looking at Jade._

_"Even though I don't want you working opposite Vega here-"_

_"For the 10th time...my name is Tori." _

_"Yeah I don't care! As I was saying before being rudely interrupted, I'm not giving you the role in my movie, but there is an opening for a job being my personal assistant."_

_"But I thought I was your assistant Jadey?" The red headed girl asked in a child-like voice._

_Jade turned and looked at her semi-yelling, "NO Cat! And don't call me that-you know I hate that name! Now here, have some more cereal."_

_"Kay Kay." Cat went from looking as if she was about to cry to cheering and clapping her hands like a five-year old in a matter of seconds._

_While the girl's conversation was going on, Beck stood there debating his options. While he really wanted to be a famous actor one day, he also knew that most people were not fortunate enough to make it big at their first attempt, and had to pay their dues and exercise some patience before stardom comes. He wanted to turn Jade down because not only did he think she would be a hard to work for based on first impressions, but also because he really wanted to find a movie role where he could advance as an actor._

_On the other hand, he also thought about Andre sitting out in the holding room waiting on him to exit. They were in desperate need of money and since it had taken almost two months to find this audition, who knows how long it would take to land another one? Although he wasn't exactly thrilled about being a personal assistant, he decided that would be his best option right now. Plus, he figured that being the assistant to a movie director would allow him to make connections in the business, thus greatly improving his chances to move closer to his ultimate goal. _

_After making up his mind he looked at the front of the room and saw the panel all looking at him waiting on his answer. "Um sure, I'll take the job." He said plainly._

_"Whatever. Now go get me a coffee-black with two sugars. Get it wrong and you'll be wearing it. You can get it next door at Skybucks, and if you're not back within ten minutes, don't even bother to come back at all." Jade declared harshly._

_"You could've asked him nicely you know." The curly haired guy told Jade._

_"Shut up Shapiro! I don't need my hair stylist telling me how to speak to my new assistant."_

_"Eep." Robbie (as Beck had later learned was the guy's first name) made a weird noise and begin squirming in his seat with his puppet now currently resting on his lap._

_"Man did you just pee on yourself again?" The puppet asked. "Because I'm feeling very uncomfortable right now."_

_Embarrassed by what the puppet had just revealed, Shapiro hastily made his way out of the room mumbling something about the bathroom on his way out._

_No sooner had Beck watched the guy leave when a booming voice declared, "Nine minutes Oliver! Your attempt at acting like a statue is not impressing me, and right now you'll be lucky to keep this job even if you do make it back in time."_

/

**Present Day**

To this day Beck is still amazed that he somehow found a way to make it to the coffee shop and back within the time frame allotted. He had even managed not to mess up her order, thus saving his both his clothes and his job.

**Author's Note: Ok, here's Chapter 1. If you have read this far, thank you for checking my little story out. If you want to leave a review that's great, but if not, that's fine too. No offense to anybody, but I'm not a writer who will hold my story hostage until I get a certain number of reviews. I just read a story recently where the author, memorysdaughter, expressed my opinion exactly. So I hope she doesn't mind, but I'm going to put her note here since I agree wholeheartedly-she just said it so nicely.**

**Remember these are my thoughts expressed in memorysdaughter's words: "I have a huge problem with authors who demand a certain number of reviews before giving you the next chapter of their story. What a silly system! If no one reviews, are you just going to stop writing? To me it suggests that you're not as committed to the story as you think you are. I don't write for a certain number of reviews - I write because I have a story to tell. Whether you review or not, I'm still going to see this through to the end. Even if it takes me a long time to get a new chapter up, I still know exactly where this story is going, and I'm committed to it because I love it, not because I'm feeding some sort of need for a certain number of reviews.**

**To be fair - I love my reviewers and readers! I love everyone who sends me a note or favorites my story! If you choose to review, I'm always happy to read your notes and suggestions! But if you don't choose to review, you might still be emotionally invested in the story, so I'm not going to deny you the satisfaction of being able to read along with the rest of us. I'm grateful you've joined me on this journey.**

**In the end I'm just a girl with a story.**

**So, thank you to all my reviewers and readers - even the ones who don't leave a review!**

**I will never make you "work for it."**

**Just knowing you're here is worth it to me."**

**See? That's way more eloquent than I would've made it sound. You should definitely go check out her story if you haven't already-it's called **_Breathing Room _**and it takes you on an amazing roller coaster of a ride, but it's worth every second! :)**


	2. Chapter 2

**To those of you who reviewed the first chapter, a gigantic THANK YOU! I honestly wasn't expecting anything, so to see that several of you wanted to leave some kind words is very much appreciated. As I stated in the last chapter, the number of reviews is not important. My goal is to update at least once a week, depending on how motivated I am to write every night. I'm going to respond to the reviews I got for the first chapter, but for future reference, I will not be responding to every review in my author's notes. If you do choose to review from here on out though, I will definitely always give shout outs :)**

**Before I start, in case you couldn't already tell, I really like smiley faces in my Author's Notes. With that said, here we go:**

**_superstar1030_****-Thanks! Hope you enjoy this chapter too! :D**

**_PEACELOVINGIRL_****-Thank you! I love this movie too. :) Glad you think I'm a good writer because ironically English was my least favorite class...lol.**

**_xFabinao_****-Wow, thank you so much! I thought it was crazy that no one had done this movie with Bade as the leads yet, but I'm happy to take on the challenge. I hate to disappoint you, but not all my A/N's will be that great,** **so please keep that in mind in future chapters ;)**

**_khay_****-Thank you! I like to add my own flair so my story will express me as a writer. Glad it's coming across so well. It's totally cool if you don't say something after every chapter-I'm just happy that someone other than me is liking this story! :)**

**_iLoveBeckAndAvan_****-Thanks! I'm going to try my hardest to not let too many days go by without an update because I know how exciting it is when a story I really like reading gets updated. 8)**

**Lastly, but no where near least, to one of my favorite authors...Seriously go check out her story if you haven't already-it's called "**_Why Can't I?_**" and it's amazing! :DD totally double-smile worthy!**

**_justadream666z_****-Thanks for checking out my story and for the promo of it on yours! Being a first time writer, that was just so surreal for me to see. I really appreciate your feedback and completely understand what you're saying. If I ever get to the point where I do stray too far, you have permission to virtually kick my butt back on track...lol. I'm so glad it felt like the characters were portrayed here as they are on the show because I try hard to keep them as in character as I can without them seeming out of place in my story. I love reading your story too (as you very well know) and hope you're not holding yours back because it's just too good to be handcuffed in the closet-set it free! ;)**

**And now for the obligatory disclaimer: I do not own either the movie "The Proposal" or the television show "Victorious"**

**Quick side note: This chapter does contain another flashback, but after this all future chapters will only contain present tense...unless I change my mind, but I'll give you a heads up if that happens.**

**Ok so this chapter happens to be longer than the first, but don't get too used to that. I'm trying to find good places to divide the story up, so the lengths will vary.**

**Now let's proceed to the more fun stuff...enjoy!**

/

**CHAPTER 2**

In the three years he has worked with Jade, Beck has yet to land a leading role for anything-movies or television. During the first few months on his new job he remained devoted to Jade, and never attempted to try out for any acting roles. By the end of the first 6 months however, he had started to see why people feared Jade, (including himself to a small extent) and began using his connections to try and become a lead actor. At the very least, he just wanted to find any acting job.

From the first time he went on an audition while under her employment, he was always up front with Jade-telling her where he was going and why he was using what little vacation days she granted him. She had threatened him on his first day that if he didn't tell her what he was doing with his vacation days, he wouldn't get any **(I know she can't legally do that, but as I said in the AN in Chapter 1-creative liberties)**.

Though she let him allowed him to use his vacation days to go on auditions, she was always more horrible to him when he came back to work.

His attempts at finding acting work never panned out though because every time he managed to book an audition, and in his opinion, perform the required scene exceptionally, he was never called back for a second audition. After about roughly the 5th or 6th time this happened, Beck became curious as to why it kept occurring to him, and decided it was time he tried to figure it out.

It was during an outing after work one night when lady luck struck, and he discovered the reason for his lack of show business success.

/

**2 Years Ago**

_They had just finished filming after a long week and wanted to go out for a few drinks to unwind. Jade had not been present on set that day because of a cold, (which she was sure to blame on everyone who dared to breath within five feet of her) and Robbie had opted out because his grandma needed him to rub her feet ("TMI dude." Beck had said). Since that left just Beck and Cat, they decided to call a couple of friends to join them to have some more fun. Beck called Andre and Cat called Tori because the girls had been friends for years, along with Jade (that's why Tori sometimes gets roles in many of Jade's movies-though Jade and Cat were closer than Jade and Tori). _

_Beck and Cat met up with Tori and Andre at a local bar, and it had taken less than 5 minutes, and roughly two drinks, for Cat to get tipsy and start being friendlier and giggling more than usual (if that was possible)._

_She was currently at the bar speaking/flirting with Andre who was attempting to limit her alcohol intake so she wouldn't feel too bad the next day, while also struggling not to let his feelings for Cat overtake him. He saw her reaching for her fourth drink and gently grabbed her hand saying, "Hey Little Red, how about you tell me about why you've been paying more attention to the bartender tonight than you have to me...uh I mean you know and Beck and Tori?" He mentally slapped himself for his slip of the tongue, and thanked whoever was listening for Cat's current state of unawareness._

_"What's that sup...hic...posed ta mean?" She asked as seriously as a drunk Cat could ask._

_"I...uh...just meant that you know, you've already had three martinis tonight and we've only been here for about ten minutes. I just wanted to make sure everything was alright?"_

_And just like that Cat was back to her martini-induced happiness as she replied, "Oh...hic...kay kay."_

_"So...?" Andre tried to get her back on topic._

_"Whaty?"_

_"Never mind Cat. How about we go back to our table and talk to Beck and Tori for a bit?"_

_A toothy smile and a hiccup is all he received in response._

Meanwhile with Beck and Tori...

_Beck had been drinking more than his regular amount as well, but he was still fully capable of carrying on a decent conversation. Since Cat and Andre had gone off to the bar Beck had been complaining about his rough week to Tori. Jade had been on edge all week, more so than usual, and had even snapped at him a record 10 times in one day. Coincidentally, that was the day he had his best audition to date, and his biggest chance at landing the lead in a major motion picture._

_"I just don't understand it. Why haven't I ever gotten a call back? Every single director I've auditioned for has given me nothing but positive comments and a couple even told me that I had the exact image envisioned for their roles, yet look where I am today-still living with Andre in a shitty apartment working for a director known in Hollywood as the Wicked Witch of the West. I don't know what's crawled up her ass this week, but she's been extra bitchy to me about every single thing. Nothing I've done has been up to Her Majesty's standards. Is there something wrong with me?"_

_"No Beck!" Tori tried to interrupt, but Beck just ignored her and continued speaking as if she had never said anything. _

_"I mean I've always done everything she's asked of me, no matter how menial, and rarely have I thought about actually quitting. Until now. What makes this time worse is the fact that I don't even know why she's behaving this way to me because she's not usually like this. I just don't know how much more of this I can take Tori." He ended with a sigh and took a long swallow of his now room temperature beer._

_Seeing that he was finally finished, Tori reached across the table and rubbed his arm sympathetically while saying, "Beck first of all, no there is absolutely nothing wrong with you. I remember last year when you came in for you audition when I was on the panel. You did a great job. I was honestly surprised Jade didn't give you the role. Unfortunately for you she never did tell me the reason that she offered you an assistant job and not an acting one. I've known Jade for about 5 years now, and in that time we've become somewhat friends, though she'd probably deny that." She paused to chuckle. "I hate to break it to you, but she really doesn't confide in me too much. Believe it or not, Cat is the one who is closest to Jade."_

_Tori had no sooner finished speaking, when Cat appeared at the table being supported by Andre's arm around her waist._

_"Hehe...hi!" She giggled drunkenly, though slightly more sober than she had been while at the bar._

_"Hey Cat." Tori said in a cheery tone. Beck simply looked up from the table only to briefly glance at Cat and Andre before taking another sip of his beer and hanging his head again while picking at tiny nicks in the table._

_Cat was slowly losing her buzz, but was still in no condition to walk, let alone dance. Therefore, when the latest pop song began playing and Tori begged for someone to join her on the dance floor, Cat tried to say yes, but Andre told her to stay, drink some water, and keep Beck company, while he went to dance with Tori. Cat popped out her bottom lip in a perfect pout that almost had Andre changing his mind, but a split second decision had him pressing a quick kiss to her mouth and quickly dragging Tori out to dance while Cat was stunned._

_Luckily for Andre the music on the dance floor was too loud for any conversation, so he was spared Tori's questions regarding the kiss for at least a few minutes. He planned to use this fact to his advantage and keep Tori out on the dance floor for as many songs as she would allow._

Back at the table with Beck and Cat...

_Though the kiss itself lasted barely a second, it took Cat a few minutes to recover from the shock of it. Her lips were still buzzing and she was just reaching to put a finger to them to see if she could physically feel the buzz, but was startled out of her action by Beck who had finally looked up and realized that it was just he and Cat at the table. _

_"Cat where did Andre and Tori go?" He seemed puzzled by Cat's contemplative smile upon mention of Andre's name, but didn't bother to question her about it._

_Finally coming out of her stupor at Beck's question, she replied in an airy voice, "they're out on the dance floor silly."_

_Beck looked around and saw that indeed the other two were out on the floor dancing, and didn't appear to be stopping anytime soon. He realized that now was the perfect opportunity to ask Cat about Jade's recent behavior. On any given day Cat was liable to simply let something that was meant to be kept quiet, slip without too much prompting. When she had been drinking though, she spoke without a second thought as to what she was saying._

_Beck pushed away his beer, deciding that he was done with it for the night, and asked Cat straight out, "Cat do you know why Jade's been extra bitchy this week? Specifically to me?"_

_She heard Beck's question and was able to process it, but the kiss from Andre was still primarily on her mind so she answered almost on autopilot, "You've been going on more auditions lately and it's getting harder for her to intimidate the other directors."_

_Beck was just about to ask what she meant by intimidating the other directors, but the realization suddenly came to him. Jade was the reason he never got a call back. He wanted to make sure though before throwing out accusations. "Cat, has Jade been sabotaging my auditions?"_

_Her mouth opened without her brain's consent, "Yep. She makes you tell her where you're going so she can call the director and guarantee you don't get a second audition."_

_"But why?" He was honestly stumped. He didn't think he did an exceptional job being Jade's assistant and thought she would be happy to see him go._

_Again Cat's brain was disconnected from her mouth. "Because every man in her life that she's ever depended on has left her. It all started with her dad." The water that she had been drinking appeared to finally begin sobering her up because for a second Cat came to her senses and realized what she had just revealed to Beck. "Oh my god _PLEASE _don't tell Jade I just told you all of that! She'll _KILL _me if she finds out!" Cat was panicking at this point and her hands had started shaking._

_Just like that, any anger Beck had been feeling had completely receded, and he reached over to grab Cat's hands before she knocked anything off the table. "Don't worry Cat. I won't say a word to anyone. Thanks for telling me, even though you didn't mean to."_

_"You promise you won't tell Jadey or anyone else?" She asked in a child-like voice with tears threatening._

_"I cross my heart promise Cat." He told her sincerely._

/

**Present Day**

Beck smiled fondly while remembering his promise to Cat. To this day he still hasn't broken that promise and he knows that he never will. Fortunately for Cat, because she had only fuzzy memories of that night, in the years since, he has never tried to pry anything further out of her whenever they are around each other. Be it on a group outing, or alone around the studio. Being given inside information on Jade made her seem a little more human to Beck, though he still wasn't too keen on staying her assistant forever.

To this day he continues to go on auditions, but he doesn't go as frequently as he has in the past. Most of the time he thinks it's because he doesn't want to be added to the list of men who've walked out on Jade, but then there are the days (coming less frequently than his parents would like) when Jade's behavior becomes so unbearable that he just wants to say screw it, walk out, and never look back. His parents (mostly his mom) tell him all the time to quit and they would help him find something else, but every time he tells them (her) the same thing, _"No mom, I'm going to do this on my own. I appreciate your offer, but please just stop trying to get me to do things your way." _He loves his mother dearly, but sometimes she can just be too much.

That night in the bar two years ago didn't exactly turn out the way he hoped it would, but something good did result from that trip. Andre and Cat talked the following day about their kiss, (for that was basically the only thing Cat had remembered) and have been a couple ever since.

His phone ringing brought him out of his reminiscing and looking at the Caller ID he sees that it is none other than his mom. _Think about someone, even remotely, and lo and behold that person will call. _He took a deep breath and answered. "Hi mom."

"Hello dear. I won't keep you long (_thank god for small miracles)._ I just wanted to remind you that this weekend we're having your grandma's 90th birthday party and you better be there because you promised you would be, and who knows how many more she'll be able to celebrate?"

"Yes mom I know what I promised, but right now I'm not sure if I'll be able to get the time off to come to Canada. We're running behind on filming, and Jade's attitude has become even more unbearable than usual because of that fact. I have barely been off set this whole week, even to go home to shower and change."

"Honey you know how I feel about you working for that woman. She's holding you back from your dreams and I've told you time and again, I think you should quit."

_Here we go again _Beck thought. "Mom you know I can't quit (exasperated). I need this job in order to make connections in show business and right now it's my only source of income."

"Yes, but Beck you can't keep working for someone who makes you miserable most of the time, and you know your father and I will help you however we can."

"Mom I know you just want what's best for me, but we're done having this conversation. I'm going to do this on my own no matter what it takes. I have to go now. I'm at work and I need to get Jade's coffee to her before she fires someone."

"See? That's what I'm talking about. That horrible woman just goes off on people for the most inane things. I'm digressing though. You're right dear. I do want you to be happy, but I also know that you're an adult and you are capable of making your own decisions. I will support whatever you choose, but I will ask you once again to please try to come to your grandma's party this weekend. It would mean so much to her with you being the eldest grandchild."

"I can't make any promises right now mom, but yes I'll try to be there."

"Thank you Beck. That's all I ask. Have a good day today and I love you."

"Love you too mom. Bye." With that he ended his call and put his phone back in his pant's pocket. He was rounding the corner and almost to Jade's office when something, or rather someone, crashed into him making him spill Jade's coffee all over his shirt. He looked up from the stain and saw Robbie lying on the ground.

"Oh my god Beck I'm so sorry!"

"Robbie you klutz! Do you know how hot that coffee was? I'm probably suffering third degree burns from it! And now Jade's gonna be super pissed because you know how she gets without her caffeine. Who's gonna be the one to tell her why she doesn't have her coffee huh? Not me my friend." Upon seeing Robbie's widened eyes and quivering lip, Beck realized he shouldn't have treated the guy that way, so he hastened to add, "Sorry for yelling at you like that man, but you've got to tell Jade about this because I've got to go and try to get cleaned up at least a little bit."

Instead of calming Robbie down, Beck's words had the opposite effect. His eyes widened even further, (apparently that was possible) and he started shaking as he spoke. "Nuh uh...I'm not telling her. She makes me bawl on a good day! Besides nobody has to tell her right now. Cat told me she's in a meeting with some executives from the studio so you go get cleaned up, and I'll get a fresh coffee for you to give to her. I got your back man!"

"Never say that again. And since I obviously didn't know about this meeting, I have no idea how long it's going to last so you better hurry."

Robbie didn't need to be told twice. He was gone from Beck's sight within a blink of an eye. Beck just rolled his eyes and went into the bathroom so he could attempt to make himself look presentable.

As he exited he saw Cat looking around as if lost. "Hey Cat. Looking for something?"

"Beck there you are! I was looking for you (obviously she hadn't heard the words, just his voice). Jadey said that people with big wigs wanted to talk to her and that you better get your, um, bad word for butt, in there as soon as possible. Do you think they're having a party? I wanna wear a wig! You don't need to wear one though because your hair is long and fluffy and pretty for a boy. One time my brother-"

"Cat STOP!" He placed his hands on her forearms to calm her down as it appeared she was going to cry from his outburst. "Look I'm sorry for yelling at you like that, (wow I haven't even been here for all that long and I've already yelled at both Cat and Robbie-I think I need some coffee) but I don't have time to hear another story about your brother. I already knew Jade was in the meeting because Robbie literally just ran into me and told me about it. Now I need to get in there before Jade fires me for not giving her an excuse to leave the meeting sooner. Why don't you go find Andre and tell him what you were going to tell me about your brother?"

At the mention of her boyfriend, Cat perked right up. Her eyes got wide and she began nodding her head up and down rapidly. "Kay Kay. ANDRE!"

Beck winced at Cat's high pitched squeal right near his ear, but quickly let go of her arms and watched her skip down the hall hollering for Andre.

**A/N: Ok I know what you're thinking...these flashbacks have nothing to do with the movie. To this I want to say yes, that is correct, but I don't want to follow the movie verbatim. I wanted to add a little backstory to make it my own while also giving readers some insight as to why certain things are occurring in the present. Also I did tell you at the beginning of this chapter that this would most likely be the last flashback in the story, but I make no promises. On that note...farewell my faithful fruit flies...until next time :)**


	3. Chapter 3

**Wow, thanks so much to everyone who's gotten in the car and taken this ride with me up to this point. I'm having fun reading all the feedback you brave hitchhikers leave for me. I want to get a new chapter out to you guys every day, but sadly this car doesn't have a big tank, and runs of out gas fairly easily...lol. I honestly have no idea how long this story will be, but isn't the journey more fun than the destination? In addition, I'm really glad the Candre relationship is going over so well. I'll try to work in more scenes with them. Thank you to those who've left positive comments on my writing style. I tend to think I can get a little wordy at times, (like in this A/N) but then I can never cut things out, so I've decided I should probably stop trying ;)**

**As I said last chapter, I'm not going to respond individually to all my reviewers, but fear not! I will give you all your due props for being kind enough to leave me some love, so here goes...**

**Muchas gracias (cause I remembered that from high school..lol) to: xFabinao, tsttoain, alexjogia, superstar1030, greenkittycat, ZOMG its Angie, JustThatGirl, and last but certainly not least, whoever left the Guest review. They all brought a hugh smile to my face.**

**Obligatory Disclaimer: As of today I still don't own either the movie "The Proposal" or the tv show "Victorious"**

**Finally...here's the good stuff. Enjoy :)**

**CHAPTER 3**

The meeting had been going on for 62 seconds, (Jade was counting) and she had been ready to leave and get back to making her movie 57 seconds ago. The execs opened their discussion by saying how much they admired Jade's work and blah blah blah, maybe something about money, blah blah blah (Jade had barely been listening by this point). She tuned back into the conversation, however, when one of the men declared in a saddened tone that she would no longer be allowed to continue working on this latest movie because she was being deported back to Italy.

"EXCUSE ME?!" She declared outraged. "Did you just say _deported_? That's not possible! I am given a new work Visa every time I make a movie-I have rights!"

"We're terribly sorry Ms. West," the younger-looking, slightly intimated man started, "but though you are correct, it would seem that you've gone over the time frame of your original filming schedule. Normally this wouldn't be a problem, and we weren't even aware of the situation until it was brought to our attention yesterday by the United States government." He glanced over at Jade to see how she was fairing so far with his news, and saw that she was just standing there with a stunned expression. He continued, "As a result, your Visa is no longer valid. You are to leave Hollywood and be on a plane back to Italy by tonight. We already have a new director we are bringing in to finish the movie."

After he finished speaking there was complete silence in the room as Jade tried to process all that she was just told. No one moved a muscle, except to blink, for a full two minutes (once again, Jade had been counting-it helped calm her rage once she fully grasped what was going to happen to both herself and her movie).

Finally gaining enough composure to where she was sure she wouldn't cause any future problems in her relationship with the studio, Jade began to speak. "Is there anything at all I can do in order to be able to stay here and continue making my movie? Can't I just get an extension on my Visa? No matter who you choose, _no one_ will ever be able to make this movie as well as I can-I wrote it so only I know how it is supposed to turn out."

"Ms. West, we understand that you are not going to be happy with our decision, but frankly the whole thing is out of our hands. We are simply trying to protect the studio's investment. Therefore, you must understand that we cannot just abandon this movie. A lot of studio money has already gone into its making, and we intend to see that it is completed." Jade felt almost as if she were a child with the way the older exec was speaking to her.

"Then let me be the one to complete it!" Jade slammed her hands down onto the table in front of her as she spoke. She was starting to lose the short grip she had on her anger, and it was getting harder and harder for her to restrain the urge she had to stab something (_or someone_ she added in her mind) with her scissors.

At her outburst, the execs stood and began to slowly make their way around the table, trying to put as much room between themselves and the getting-madder-by-the-moment director. Jade was blocking the doorway only by coincidence, as that's where the chair in which she had seated herself for the meeting was located.

Jade stood up from her chair but didn't get far as Beck had, mercifully for the other men in the room, entered with a fresh cup of coffee. He assessed the situation using his keen observation skills, then handed the cup to Jade as fast as was humanly possible.

Unknown to the rest of the world, seemingly only Jade and her assistant, coffee contained magical properties. This magic, however, only affected Jade, as it allowed her to calm down and think rationally. She took one sip and immediately came up with a brilliant plan to be able to stay in Hollywood and make her movie.

"Wait!" She shouted out of the blue.

The two execs stopped trying to move away and just stared at Jade waiting on her to continue.

"What if I told you that I am engaged to be married to a U.S. citizen?" She hoped the slight sense of desperation she was feeling wasn't coming through in her words.

"Well if that is truly the case and not a made-up-on-the-spot excuse, I would firstly say that yes a marriage would allow you to stay here and continue directing the movie, and secondly, congratulations to both you and your fiance. Who is the _lucky_ guy?"

Jade ignored the older man's tone of derision, but faltered for a minute on her response. "Uh, um, m-my fiance is," she was going to just make up a name when she happened to look to her right, saw Beck, and inspiration struck once again. "This guy right here! Beck, darling, (she cringed slightly as the word came out of her mouth) your timing couldn't have been more perfect." Turning back to the men she said, "Gentleman, I'd like to introduce you to my fiance Beck Oliver." She was proud of herself for not showing any outward signs of disdain upon saying that word.

"W-w-what?!" Beck's confusion was evident to all in the room, but thankfully for Jade, no one said anything about it.

She quickly but firmly grabbed his arm and spoke so low only he could hear, "Listen, just go along with this for right now and I won't fire you and black ball you in Hollywood. Got it?"

Beck nodded his head imperceptibly and, forcing a saccharine smile on his face, walked over to shake hands with the two older men. "I apologize for my initial confusion. It's just that I wasn't aware we were sharing our news before telling my parents. With that said, it's a pleasure to meet you gentleman. My little honey bunny (he just knew Jade was plotting his public and very humiliating axing as he said these words, so he decided he'd better enjoy what little satisfaction he was getting from this moment while he could still do so) was just telling me yesterday how excited she is to get married and finally become a U.S. citizen." Walking back to Jade he kept the cheesy smile on his face as he slung an arm around her waist and enjoyed the feeling of her discomfort, along with the murderous glare she was trying to subtly send his direction.

"Well we certainly didn't know this news, or else this whole conversation could've been avoided." The older of the two execs said in a mildly condescending tone. "This surprising revelation, however, compels us to further analyze your situation and report it to the correct party."

"What do you mean correct party? Don't you just have to tell the FBI people that I'm engaged to be married so it's okay to let me stay here until I finish my movie?" Jade was confused as she had obviously never been in this type of situation before.

"Well seeing as how this is a deportation issue, the Department of Immigration is who will have to be informed. They will then send an officer here to verify your relationship and make sure you two are really in love and not just trying to scam the government." The continual arrogant cadence of his voice was rapidly forcing Jade to rethink her no-stabbing-studio-executives-with-scissors policy.

Beck could sense Jade getting ready to say something that would make the deportation issue look like a promotion, so he spoke first. "If I may interject? We would like to thank you gentleman for your well wishes on our impending nuptials, and if that is all you have for this meeting, we must excuse ourselves as my fiancee needs to get back to work now." Beck was sure that he was going to need surgery after this meeting in order to remove the cat-that-ate-the-canary smile he's been sporting since the "engagement" news was announced.

"Yes since that matter has been addressed and will be handled accordingly, that is all we have for now." The younger exec had finally found his voice again. "We appreciate your time and attention to this matter Ms. West. Someone from the Department of Immigration will be in contact with you later today."

Gritting her teeth and silently counting to ten, Jade forced a small smile on her face as she told the men she would be looking forward to the call and asked if they would mind seeing themselves out. After exchanging goodbyes, Jade and Beck left the room with his arm still around her waist.

/

Jade couldn't get out of Beck's embrace fast enough after the meeting room door had closed behind them. She stomped her way over to the set and hollered at everyone to be ready for filming within five minutes. No one dared to question her actions or attitude-they simply just rushed as fast as possible to do what she asked. In times such as these no one, not even Cat (who was actually Jade's best friend-though Jade would never admit it), was immune to her wrath.

Normally if Jade caught Cat and Andre making out in a random corner, she would simply roll her eyes and tease (she wasn't completely heartless, despite what many of her staff believed) Cat about it when the two broke apart. Today, however, Jade threatened to fire them both if she caught them within 5 feet of each other again.

"Eep!" Cat stepped away from Andre so quickly he crashed hard into the wall she had been leaning against.

"Dang girl! Could you give me more warning next time? I almost just broke my nose!"

Andre's outburst, combined with Jade's warning, caused Cat's eyes to tear up rapidly. "Aw Cat, I'm sorry. I'm not mad at you. Don't cry baby. You know I hate to see my Little Red all sad." Andre went to give Cat a comforting hug, but was stopped by Jade's steely glare.

"J-jadey...what's...hic...wrong?" Cat's bottom lip trembled as she asked the question.

"One, NEVER CALL ME THAT! You know I HATE that name! And two, NOTHING'S WRONG! Now GET TO WORK BEFORE I FIRE YOU!" With that, Jade made her way over to her director's chair and began to get ready for the day's shooting.

Andre gave Cat a sad smile, then a quick hug and kiss before leaving to find Beck to try and figure out what was going on with Jade.

Luckily for Cat, Tori happened to be working on this current movie. As she saw Cat about to have a complete break down, she made her way to Cat's side to pull the red head into a comforting hug.

/

It didn't take long for Andre to find Beck because when the fluffy-haired assistant wasn't around Jade, he was usually found in her office. Andre stood in the doorway watching Beck pace back and forth for a minute before making his presence known.

"Alright man, what's up? Jade's being more of a gank than usual, and you're in here acting like a caged tiger and making me dizzy with your pacing. Cat told me about Jade having to meet with the studio execs, so I'm guessing you know what down in that meeting?"

Beck had finally stopped his cross-office trek as soon as he heard Andre's voice, and stared at his friend pleadingly. "Andre you're my best friend, and you know under any other circumstance I would tell you what's going on in a heartbeat, but please just trust me when I say that I cannot tell you about this right now." He held up a hand when he saw Andre's mouth open to speak. "No more questions man. There's just some crazy shit that went down at that meeting and I promise as soon as I can, I'll tell you every detail, but I just can't do it yet."

Andre saw how desperate Beck's countenance was, and decided to take pity on his friend. "Okay man no questions about that, but I gotta say, you need to go calm your boss down. Right now I have to wait until we're done shooting for the day before I can even go near my girlfriend, and I just can't last that long. If I don't get some red velvet kisses again soon I'm gonna go all wonky!"

"First, calm down dude. Second, what are you talking about? Go near Cat? Why can't you be around her now?" Andre didn't even have to answer, for it had taken Beck all of two seconds after he asked to deduce the meaning behind Andre's anger. "Wait, let me guess...that's why you're asking about Jade being more of a gank than usual right? She said something to you guys, and for whatever reason, now you're supposed to stay away from each other, correct?"

Andre's anger was starting to abate by the time Beck finished speaking, at least enough for him to not feel as if he would trash Jade's office in the next five minutes. "Yeah that's about it. Jade caught Cat and me making out in a corner of the studio-out of everybody's way might I add-and just went off on us. Told us that if we got within 5 feet of each other again, Jade would fire both of us. I didn't really care for her hollering, but I can take it. Cat, on the other hand, has never had Jade yell at her like that, and you know how sensitive Cat is in general, but with Jade she always takes things extra personally. It tears me up to see my baby so upset, and it just sucks because there's nothing I can even do about it until work is over. So once again, I'm begging you as _my_ best friend, PLEASE talk to Jade and fix this-not just for me and Cat, but for the whole crew. We all need you to do this Beck because with the way Jade's going now, there'll be no one left to work by lunchtime."

Beck realized that nothing was going to change right now in regards to the meeting's outcome, so heaving a resigned sigh, he told Andre that it would be taken care of. He left the office to search for Jade so he could speak with her in an attempt to create a peaceful, at least for today, working environment. Somehow Beck was able to both avoid the meeting's repercussions, and calm Jade down enough so filming could commence that day. He considered it a small miracle, and win-win for all involved.

/

The call Beck and Jade had both been dreading came around 2 o'clock that afternoon. Jade was in the middle of the most crucial scene in the movie when her phone began ringing, well technically vibrating. Beck had been holding it, (as he always does during filming) and answered while walking into Jade's office for privacy. "Hello Jade West's phone. This is Beck speaking."

"Beck? As in Ms. West's fiance Beck Oliver?" The voice was a little hesitant, but very hard.

Beck figured out right away that it was the Immigration office calling without the caller having to even identify himself. Based on this discovery, he then realized that this wasn't going to be a fun conversation. He pinched the bridge of his nose as he replied affirmatively.

"Mr. Oliver, (no hesitation this time, just the hard tone) my name is Michael Amberson and I am calling from the Department of Immigration (cue eye roll for Beck) in Washington D.C. This case has just been assigned to me and I wanted to call and inform you that I will be arriving in Hollywood tomorrow morning to conduct my interview regarding your relationship. I shall be out there around 9 am, and I will expect both you and Ms. West to meet me at our Hollywood office at 10 if it is not too inconvenient."

"No sir, it's not an inconvenience at all." Beck rushed to agree with whatever Mr. Amberson was saying so as not to give a bad impression over the phone, as well as wanting to end the call as quickly as possible. "We'll be there tomorrow morning at 10 o'clock." After writing down the address to Mr. Amberson's office and exchanging goodbyes, Beck hung up the phone, sat down in one of Jade's office chairs, and ran his hand on an all-too-familiar path through his hair.

/

At precisely 9:55 Thursday morning, Jade and Beck walked into the Hollywood Department of Immigration office for their meeting with Mr. Amberson. Jade had refused to ride with Beck, and had demanded he meet her there. He at first had argued saying it would make a bad impression if they showed up separately, but Jade had a solution for that problem. She told him if anyone asked, they did not live together-they are waiting until marriage-and she had other commitments prior to the meeting this morning.

Beck had attempted to put his arm around Jade's shoulder in order to portray an actual couple "in love," but when Jade threatened to break his arm if it wasn't removed, he settled for simply walking next to her.

Jade walked purposefully up to the front desk and paused as she discovered the secretary wasn't the one she remembered from her first visit there. Jade shook herself from the memory and demanded, in a not-so-nice voice, to know where Mr. Amberson's office was because she was there for an appointment and couldn't be late. Seeing the poor secretary shaking in fear while stammering to give Jade directions, Beck stepped up and did what he has been doing for the last 3 years. He apologized to the older lady for Jade's rude behavior, and turned on the charm to more effectively discover what they needed to know.

Beck thanked the lady with his most disarming smile and turned to lead Jade towards Mr. Amberson's office, with Jade grumbling the whole way.

"She is so lucky I'm not her boss. She should be fired." Jade had then mumbled something that Beck couldn't make out, but he thought it sounded like "he's supposed to be _my _fiance." He found himself involuntarily smiling at the thought.

"Ok, here we are." Beck had stopped in front of what appeared to be a closet with a handwritten sign stating that the office belonged to Michael Amberson, Chief Immigration Officer (**No idea what their system is like since I'm 1-a natural born citizen-unless Missouri was its own country when I was born, and 2-I was too lazy to do any research, so we're going to stick with this**).

Jade's eyes had lit up once she had taken in everything. "Oh my god this is great! He can't even get a decent office around here. Do you know what this means Beck?" She didn't even give him a chance to guess before barreling onward. "It means he's not that important, and it's going to be so easy to get this mess cleared up without any worry of me getting deported!" She smiled for the first time all morning, and Beck couldn't help but let out a little chuckle at the sight, combined with her wild hypothesis. He then turned serious as he spoke the words relating to the things he had been thinking about all last night.

"Yeah, let's not be too presumptuous yet. His little sign does say Chief Immigration Officer, so we can't be too nonchalant about this whole thing. Now I don't like this situation any more than you, but seeing as how we're both actors," she scoffed, but didn't say anything to contradict him. He gave her a look as if to say _seriously_? "As I was saying, we both know how to put on a performance, so how about we go in there and pretend this is just a romantic movie-"

He cut off her impending rant before she she could even get started, "Yes I know you hate those so there's no need to say anything. As I was saying, we pretend this is simply for a movie and we're auditioning for the lead roles."

She _really _wanted to argue with him or at least call his idea dumb, but as she took a minute to think about it, Jade realized Beck's suggestion was probably going to be their best bet...for now.

"Ugh...fine, but don't expect me to act like some idiotic love-struck bimbo because I absolutely _refuse _to stoop that low."

"Jade, as hard as this may be to believe, I have worked with you for 3 years now, and I think I've learned a thing or two about you during that time. There is absolutely no reason for me to think that you would ever behave that way. I'm kinda surprised you're actually agreeing to go along with my idea now without argument."

"Yeah well don't get used to it. I'm only doing it because I have no other choice since _no one _is going to make my movie except me." Beck heard the underlying emotion in her voice when speaking about her movie, and vowed silently to himself to try his best at making this arrangement work because even though most of the time Jade was a very unpleasant person to work with, she was the most devoted director when it came to her movies. She fought with all she had in order to see that her films were made precisely as she had envisioned, and made everyone around her ultimately want to do the same.

He gave her a kind smile and proceeded to knock on Mr. Amberson's door.

**A/N: Hope that was enough to keep you in the car until our next stop. For now, adios (hey look I remembered something else...lol) my adventurous aardvarks ;)**


	4. Chapter 4

**Thank you soooo much to those of you who haven't jumped out through the window yet, because we've still got a long way to go!**

**I know I said I wouldn't respond to any reviews, but I have to make an exception just this once. I would've sent a PM, but the reviewer left if as a Guest, therefore I have to say something here. To that Guest, I would like to say thanks for informing me that the process was called Naturalization. I finished school a little more than a few years ago (not all that much though...lol) and obviously I didn't retain a lot.**

**SHOUT OUT TIME! Merci Beaucoup (cause I'm multi-lingual like that) to the following awesome reviewers of Chapter 3: xFabiano, Candreforver, justadream666z, and ZOMG its Angie**

**Also a gigantic THANK YOU to anyone who has put either me or my story on your favorites list and/or is following either me or this story. Seeing those makes me just as happy as seeing reviews :)**

**Side note: Is it just me, or did anyone else find it funny how after I published Chapter 3, the word count for the story was exactly 11,000? Or was I the only one who really paid attention to that? :o**

**Once again the obligatory disclaimer: I have been advised by my lawyer to inform you that I do not own either **_The Proposal _**or **_Victorious_

**Enjoy your reading :D**

**CHAPTER 4**

Jade West was rarely one to show any emotion other than anger, but as she and Beck walked in to Mr. Amberson's office after getting permission, she was having a hard time trying to keep her hands from shaking due to nerves. Under normal circumstances she would verbally assault and intimidate anyone who stood in the way of her getting what she wanted. This situation, however, was different because Jade knew this man was the one holding the power over her, and she had too much to lose. Her current movie happens to be the closest to her heart because though she's written her own scripts before, this was the first movie she had based upon her own personal experiences. With this in mind, she put on on her most convincing smile and stood with Beck, facing Mr. Amberson.

"Ms. West, Mr. Oliver." He acknowledged them both with a nod of the head. So far Mr. Amberson appeared to be a very genial man, but Beck knew from personal experience that first impressions were not always correct.

Jade knew that if she opened her mouth nothing good would come out, so she subtly kicked Beck with her steel toed boot indicating she wanted him to speak. Beck winced a little from the kick, but got the hint and opened his mouth to reply.

"Thank you. It's nice to meet you as well." He said it through his teeth, (as he was still feeling the pain in his leg) but the smile never left his face. Jade saw this and decided that if this whole charade worked, she _might_ start being a little nicer to her assistant...at least for a week or so-small steps and all that.

"Now that the unfortunate, but necessary pleasantries are over, let's get down to business shall we?" Mr. Amberson's demeanor changed from a cordial gentleman to a typical no-nonsense government employee so rapidly Jade thought she had imagined him even being polite in the beginning. Beck, on the other hand, wasn't surprised in the least by this sudden 180 degree turn in attitude. Mr. Amberson continued, "Ms. West, it is my understanding that upon hearing the news of your impending deportation, you informed your superiors that you and Mr. Oliver were engaged. Is this correct?"

Jade would never admit it out loud, but Mr. Michael Amberson was the first man she ever met who slightly intimidated her. "That's right." She was too afraid of the consequences to follow it with anything sarcastic, as per her usual retorts.

"And why may I ask were your bosses unaware of this relationship status prior to your meeting with them?"

"Because I like to keep my private life just that-private." Jade was close to snapping as she said this and Beck could tell, so he very slowly slid his foot over to hers and gave her a little warning tap to calm her down. He wanted to return her earlier favor, but figured the repercussions would be much worse. Jade took the hint, and gave Mr. Amberson a _real-unless-you-knew-her_ smile. Jade thought he seemed to buy it for he didn't say anything in reply, he simply nodded his head. She soon learned, however, that was far from the truth.

"I'm going to be frank with the both of you. As you are aware, the revelation of your relationship and its current status is very sudden and convenient, given the circumstances. After reviewing your case, I believe that this engagement is a ploy to commit fraud against the United States government. In the next few minutes I am going to interview each of you separately. If the answers you provide don't match, Ms. West will be deported tonight back to Italy, and Mr. Oliver will be convicted on a felony charge punishable by a $250,000 fine and five years in prison." He looked at both of them intently as he spoke, but luckily for their acting skills, neither gave any outward signs of anything that was being felt on the inside.

Beck was having a fierce internal debate as he listened to the government official speak. He was torn between wanting to stay out of jail, (because who actually wants to be there?) and wanting to help his career by helping Jade stay in the country. He refused to even think of the monetary consequences at this time. He knew that if Jade were to leave, he could get another job with all the connections he has made in the past three years, but he would be lying if he said that he didn't care for her a least a smidgen in the time he has known her. Granted he would never ask her to hang out outside of the studio, but that didn't mean he wanted her gone completely. He also figured he could use this situation as blackmail to get her to stop sabotaging his future auditions.

Jade, meanwhile, was having her own internal conflict as she listened to Mr. Amberson's speech. She didn't want to be deported by any means, but upon learning of the severe consequences for Beck, she began to wonder if he would go through with their deal. She had recently only admitted to herself that she tolerated his company more than most, and sabotaged his auditions because she wasn't ready for him to be gone yet. Only Cat knew that she had been doing that to his auditions, but as far as Jade knew, Cat hadn't told anybody else. Jade believed that it was because she had threatened to shave Cat's head if anything was told. Little did she know that Cat had already spilled the beans to Beck. Jade's lenient feelings for Beck were also why she was so harsh to him. She knew that if she were nice to him, he would have had no problem leaving her sooner. Jade knew now that he had more to lose than she, and she vowed that she would stop being so harsh to Beck in the future, but _only _to Beck.

Beck and Jade both finally tuned back in as Mr. Amberson was finishing his diatribe. "So if there are no questions?" He paused for a moment, then continued after both shook their heads in the negative. "I'm going to have you both wait outside for a few minutes while I get things sorted, then I will call one of you back in to begin the interviews."

/

As soon as Beck shut the door behind him Jade opened her mouth. "Before you say anything, because I know you will, I have something I want to say first. I know that there's a lot riding on the line for you, but if you do this for me then I will stop demanding you tell me what you're doing when you take vacation time." She had thought this was a good compromise, but once again she was wrong.

"Well first of all, thank you for that, but for what I'm risking here you're going to have to do better." He held up a hand to stop her protest, and continued while she glared at him. "I want you to not only stop asking me what I'm doing with my vacation time, but I also want you to actually help me when I do go to an audition." He didn't want to let on that he knew she had been undermining his attempts, so he conveniently left out how she could help him-she was going to have to figure that out on her own. "Also, I want you to give me a semi-decent role, not just a one-liner part, in your next movie." Beck thought his demands weren't too unreasonable, but it still surprised him when Jade didn't demand he change anything.

"Although I'm not happy with this whole thing right now, including your demands, I will agree to them, but _only _if this works. If I end up getting deported because of you though, you better pray to every deity out there that some high school will hire you as a janitor, because once I'm through, no director alive will want anything to do with you, got it?" Jade's eyes were full of fire when she first began speaking, but had started to dim as she neared the end. Then, out of nowhere, her eyes abruptly widened comically. It had suddenly occurred to her that she knew relatively nothing about her assistant in terms of his personal life. The only thing she basically knew was that his parents hated her and wanted Beck to quit every day, but Jade doubted that knowledge would be very helpful in this situation.

Beck noticed the worried look on Jade's face, and it started to worry him because if Jade West, the woman who sparked fear into everyone around her, was worried about something, it had to be bad. "What's wrong Jade? I've never seen you look like this, and frankly it's a little unnerving."

Normally one to never talk about her feelings under any circumstances, Jade knew she had no other option but to trust Beck right now, and told him what was bothering her. "I know absolutely _nothing_ about you! I'm going to fail this interview and be on a plane to Italy in less than three hours! What's worse is the fact that we don't even have time for me to learn enough!" Jade was running out of steam, but Beck could see the glassy look in her eyes. He had to think fast because he knew one of them would be called back in any minute.

"Okay, listen quickly. My favorite color is red, I have no siblings, I've wanted to be an actor practically my whole life, um." Here he paused as he tried to decide what else might be asked. "Oh! We got engaged on your birthday, but have kept our whole relationship a secret for personal reasons (as he knew that's what she had already told the studio execs at the other meeting). We're telling my family this weekend at my grandma's 90th birthday party." Beck knew this was his only chance to get Jade to basically agree with anything he said so he was going to make sure he made the most of it.

Jade interrupted him with a "What?! I am NOT meeting your family!"

"Jade lower your voice! Do you want to have this thing end right now?" Jade immediately looked chagrined, and lowered her voice to a harsh whisper.

"Whatever. Ok, so I guess that's enough about you for me to know for now. As for me...let's see. I was born in Italy, have a younger brother-" Beck's hand came up to stop her.

"Jade no offense, but I've been working for you for so long that I know all I need to about you in order to pass this thing with flying colors." He smirked as he said it.

She was just opening her mouth to no doubt give Beck an angry, sarcastic retort, when Mr. Amberson's door opened and she was called inside.

/

After interviewing Beck, (Jade had paced like a caged tiger the whole time and came close to pulling out her hidden scissors on two different people who dared to question her actions) Mr. Amberson called Jade back into the office to speak with them together.

"Mr. Oliver, Ms. West, thank you for agreeing to this formality. Were the circumstances any different, we would not be having this conversation right now. Since you Ms. West felt the need to reveal your engagement after learning of a potential deportment, however, our meeting became necessary. Now, after interviewing the both of you, I have come to some conclusions." Here he paused to consult his notes.

While waiting, Jade was beginning to panic again, but being the consummate professional she is, she showed no outward signs.

Beck, on the other hand, was almost the exact opposite. Sure he was slightly worried (who wouldn't be with so much on the line?), but he also knew that he did great in his interview, and based on the questions he was asked, knew Jade should have done well enough to not raise much suspicion from the government official. He sat in his seat seat cool as a cucumber, and gave Jade a small comforting smile when she turned to look at him.

They shifted their attention back to Mr. Amberson at the sound of his voice. "Now as I was saying," he glanced at each of them briefly, then continued. "Let's just say that, for the moment, I believe this engagement is real." He was looking back down at his notes at that point, and therefore missed Beck and Jade simultaneously releasing their withheld breaths with the minimalist of sounds. "I am only saying that because it is my understanding that you are announcing this news to Mr. Oliver's family this weekend, correct?"

It was Beck who answered, as Jade's eyes had narrowed momentarily in anger as she remembered that fact, before she composed herself. "Yes sir, that's right. We are attending my grandmother's 90th birthday party, and will reveal our happy news while we're there."

"I see." Mr. Amberson then directed his attention to Jade. "And to where, Ms. West, will you be traveling?" His voice, while still hard, had taken on a smug quality while he asked the question. He acted as if he had just asked the one thing that would cause their whole charade to be exposed.

Mr. Amberson had not asked Jade any questions pertaining to this topic during the interview, therefore, she stumbled over her words (cursing herself mentally the whole time) as she responded. "Well, uh, you see we're going to ahh-" she hesitated while shooting her eyes briefly at Beck, silently begging him for help.

Together, albeit with Jade a fraction slower than Beck, the two managed to get out "A-a-a-alberta, Canada."

Upon realizing the words that had just come out of her mouth, Jade began plotting the slow downfall of Beck Oliver's career, and only if he was lucky, would his life be spared. It was common knowledge to everyone that Canada was the one place Jade hated above all others. She could go on all day about the multitude of things she despised about the country, and was beginning to blame everyone she knew for not finding out sooner that Beck was from there.

Mr. Amberson raised one eyebrow in suspicion as Beck had spoken with Jade.

Fortunately for Beck, he was a quick thinker and had already thought of a reason as to why Jade struggled with her answer. "I'm sorry sir, but my fiancee here (seeing her suffer every time he said the word never failed to bring him endless amusement) has never been good at remembering that I'm from the town of Irricana, (**a real town in Alberta that I have absolutely no connection to-I'm just using the name)** but I thought she could at least remember the province. Apparently I was wrong." His cheeks were starting to hurt from stretching his smile so wide. He knew that although Jade needed this deal to work flawlessly, she was probably currently plotting his demise in the most horrendous way possible with every word he spoke.

"Mr. Oliver, I have to say that I am inclined not to believe you, but I will let it go because there is no way I can prove otherwise. Now, based on the answers you both provided during your interviews, I am going to temporarily sign off on this case." At this news Jade smiled for the second time that day. Her smile faded, however, with the next words that came out of Mr. Amberson's mouth. "I am doing this with the provision that I will be checking up on you periodically and spontaneously to verify that this engagement is real, and when I am fully satisfied with what I have seen and heard, I will hold off any further interviews until after the wedding."

Before anything could come out of Jade's mouth, (because at this point it was a toss up as to whether it would be helpful or damaging) Beck thanked Mr. Amberson and told him they would be happy to welcome the man anytime. After politely, although reluctantly on Jade's part, shaking Mr. Amberson's hand, Beck and Jade left the office.

**A/N: I'm apologizing in advance because the next chapter might take a little longer to get posted. My sister is coming in from out of town for vacation on Thursday, and she just had a baby two months ago, so I'm going to be a little busy these next couple of weeks. Fear not though, somehow, some way, I will fulfill my duties as promised (I should totally run for president...lol) and will not let a whole week go by without an update. For now, goodbye my galloping gazelles :D**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey look...I was able to update in less than a week...yay! I make no promises for the next chapter, but hopefully this one is enough to tide you guys over until I can get chapter 6 out.**

**To those of you who are still enjoying this story-thanks a bunch! I'm having a blast writing it, and it makes me really happy every time I see that at least one person has viewed/visited my story.**

**SHOUT OUT TIME! Domo arigato (not to Mr. Roboto...lol) to: xFabinao and Dawnmist of RiverClan. :D**

**Quick note, this chapter does contain another flashback (told you I would warn you first). I thought about leaving it out, but then the chapter was kinda short and I felt more needed to be added. It's not essential to the story, so if you want to skip it you won't lose anything. I just thought it'd be a cute scene and wanted to add it for my entertainment. So if you like it, great, but if not, well then you probably should've skipped over it...lol. You can always let me know if there's anything you would like me to add into the story, and I'll try to work it in for the future. If you don't want to leave it in a review, feel free to PM me :)**

**Time for the appetizer: I did not receive anything in the mail stating otherwise, so as of today, I still don't own either **_The Proposal _**or**_ Victorious_

**Aaaaaaand now for the main course...**

**CHAPTER 5**

Beck had been prepared for Jade's tirade as soon as they left the government building, however he was shocked when she simply ignored him, strode determinedly to her car, and proceeded to drive who knows where. Beck shook his head in resignation because he knew it was inevitable that he would be on the receiving end of her wrath. The only thing he wondered was if he would be murdered quickly, or if she would rip him apart limb by limb. He just hoped for now that she went someplace where she could release most of her frustration without inflicting damage to anyone else. He heaved a sigh as he got into his car, and decided to drive home so he could pack for his trip to Canada. He, or rather they, were supposed to fly out at 9 in the morning. Beck wondered if Jade would try to contact him sometime today because he knew for a fact that he never told Jade of their flight time.

At first Jade didn't know where she was going when she left. She simply drove around town perpetually lost in thought. Despite what Beck believed, she really wasn't all that mad. Sure she hated Canada, and would rather stab herself in the eye with her scissors before ever stepping foot in the country. On the flip side though, she was also a reasonable, intelligent woman, and knew she would have to pull off the performance of a lifetime this weekend in front of Beck's family if she wanted to keep Mr. Amberson's approval.

She had been driving around aimlessly for about 20 minutes when out of nowhere it dawned on her that she had absolutely no idea what time their flight was scheduled to leave tomorrow, but she did know it was going to be tomorrow because she remembered Beck telling her a couple weeks ago that he needed Friday of this week off for his grandma's birthday celebration. At the time she had begrudgingly let him have the day, but after the way the first two days of this week had gone, she had then revoked his day off. Now, however, she was forced to not only give him back the vacation day, but to also take off the day herself so she could travel with him. With this thought in mind, she turned to head to the movie set in order to inform everyone of their forthcoming absences.

She was surprised to learn from Tori (since Cat still couldn't be around Jade for more than two minutes without crying yet) that Beck did not come back to the set after their meeting with the Immigration agent.

No one on set had known why the two were gone that morning. Jade had already taken care of that problem by telling everyone, in very unsavory terms, that it was no one's business, and if she heard anyone asking about it, that person would be fired immediately. Since everybody knew Jade was deadly serious when she said something like that, no one dared to test her.

After demanding that Tori gather everyone together on the main set, Jade informed them all of what was going on. "Alright everyone listen up! I'm only going to say this once so if you don't hear it, ask someone who did. Tomorrow I am giving you guys the day off from filming." Everyone began to get excited at this news, but Jade only had to give them a single look before they all quieted down within the blink of an eye. "Now, as I was saying, you're getting the day off because I will not be here and neither will Beck." Normally when Jade's off she sends Beck texts every 5 minutes giving him specific instructions on what needs to be done, and demanding he send her a report no later than every 15 minutes. Beck hates those days because he usually goes through 3 or 4 phone batteries by the end of the day.

Robbie had never known that Beck had originally requested the day off, so in his naivety, he risked Jade's wrath by asking. Knowing Jade for as long as he has, however, he wasn't going to just interrupt her and face the chance of castration. Instead he raised his hand as if he was in school, and waited for Jade to call on him.

"What is it Shapiro? If you ask me why I'm not going to be here I swear I will castrate both you and your little puppet."

Robbie's eyes had grown exponentially upon hearing the words that came out of Jade's mouth. He started to think that Jade possessed the power of telepathy, so he did his best to try and block everything out of his mind. Ironically, the words weren't even said with half the malice she generally reserved for those working for her. Robbie was still trying to process the fact that she might be able to read his mind, when Rex, his puppet, chimed in with a, "Hey you don't know what I got!"

Jade simply rolled her eyes at Rex and barked out a, "Well?!" at Robbie.

"Oh! Well, um, normally Beck's in charge when you're not here, so, um, I was just wondering since you're going to be gone, w-w-where w-w-will h-h-he b-be?" Robbie had started shaking and stuttering at the end of his question and couldn't even look at Jade as he asked it.

"I should fire you for even asking, but since I'm still processing a lot of stuff in my mind right now, I'm just going to ignore your question and move on. Ok, where was I? Oh yeah, so you guys won't just have tomorrow off. I'm also giving you the rest of today because I have to go home and do some stuff that is NO ONE'S business!" She glared at Robbie as she said this, and took a little pleasure at seeing a few silent tears leak out of his eyes. "Make no mistake, however, I want everyone here at 7 am sharp Monday morning to be ready to film the final scenes."

At the end of her speech everyone simply stood there staring either at Jade, or each other until Jade spoke up again. "Why are you all just standing there? Get out of my sight before I change my mind!"

No one needed to be told twice after that outburst, and everyone scattered like ants to finish things up and get them ready for Monday morning.

Jade knew she couldn't go home just yet because she needed to finish up some things herself. One of said things being the fact that she had to suck up her pride and call Beck regarding their flight time.

/

After Jade had left, Tori, Cat, Andre, and Robbie (and by default, Rex) gathered in the conference room to discuss this sudden shift in scheduling.

Andre (with Cat seated on his lap, her arms around his neck, and her head in the crook) opened up the discussion by saying, "Ok is it just me, or is it really weird that both Beck and Jade were gone this morning, and now they both have to be off tomorrow? I bet you guys anything that it has something to do with that meeting Jade had the other day with those studio guys. She's been acting even more of a gank than usual ever since then."

Cat and Tori both nodded their heads in agreement, while Robbie let out a "Yeah it is strange, but you heard her when I asked about it. I'm not going through that again."

"Yeah especially since you cried into a whole roll of toilet paper."

"REX! I told you what happens in the bathroom is private and isn't supposed to be shared!"

"Yeah, but when have I ever listened to you? You don't have any friends."

"That's not true! Just yesterday-"

Andre was starting to get a headache while listening to the two(?) argue, and knew he needed to put an end to it. "Alright enough!" Cat winced at Andre's tone, but after a hushed, "sorry baby" and a kiss on her forehead, she settled back down. "Obviously we're not going to get any answers out of Jade. Has anyone called Beck and asked him about it?" He received negative head shakes from everyone. "Ok then. I'll call him and put him on speaker. It's alright if he knows you guys are here, but I'm going to be the one to talk to him so it doesn't get confusing."

After everyone else agreed to this, Andre placed the call then set his phone on the center of the table to wait for Beck to answer.

The call went straight to voicemail, meaning Beck was either on the phone with someone else, or his phone was turned off. Andre left him a message asking for a call back, then hung up his phone and put it away.

"Ok, soooo what do we do now?" Tori spoke for the first time.

"Well you two (pointing to Tori and Robbie) can go do whatever, and I'll call you if I hear from Beck. Cat and I have our own plans." They all exchanged goodbyes as Tori and Robbie left the room, with Tori getting Cat to promise to call her later. Cat sat back down on Andre's lap after giving Tori a hug following her promise to call.

Cat smiled at Andre while batting her eyes, then gave her signature pout as she asked, "What are we gonna do?"

Just like the night two years ago in the bar that was the catalyst for their relationship, Andre couldn't resist her pout. This time though, instead of just giving her a quick peck, they made out for a few minutes before he responded. "Well I was going to mention it to you later tonight, but since we have the rest of the day off I'll tell you now. Beck's mom called me last week and invited me to his grandma's 90th birthday party since, to quote her, I've 'always been a part of our family.' I was gonna see if you wanted to go up for the weekend, but since we have some extra time off, do you want to leave tonight and tomorrow I can show you around the town where Beck and I grew up?"

She smiled wide and squealed out a yes before throwing her arms around his neck and giving him a long, deep kiss.

/

Beck didn't answer his phone when Andre had called because he was already talking to someone else, Jade to be exact.

She hadn't wanted to call him at all, let alone as soon as she entered her office, but she knew that the earlier she called, the quicker she could get everything else settled on set, and get home to pack for her trip.

Beck had let his phone ring for a few times as he contemplated answering Jade's call. He remembered how she had acted after their meeting with Mr. Amberson this morning, and was slightly unsure as to how she would treat him during this call. He finally answered as he realized that it had only been two hours since they left the meeting, and it was _Jade_ calling _him_ so she couldn't be in that bad of a mood.

"Hello?" He decided to inflict a bit of smugness into his tone for he knew why she was calling, and in this situation, he was the one in control. Jade needed him more than he needed her, for the plan to work.

Jade bit her tongue to restrain herself from saying anything snarky, and simply said, "Look, I'm only calling to find out what time I need to be at the airport tomorrow so stop sounding stuck up and just tell me."

As much as Beck wanted to tease her, he chose to take the high road this time, and calmly told her, "The flight is scheduled to leave at 9 am, so you should probably be at the airport by 8."

"Fine, I'll see you then." And with those words, Jade had ended the call.

/

As she was packing, Jade started thinking about how she had left things with Cat. Cat was one of the first people Jade had met in America, and their quirky friendship was one of the few things Jade actually treasured most in the world, though she would kill anyone who asked her to admit that the two were even friends at all.

When Jade had first come to the United States, she had planned to go through the process of Naturalization and obtain a dual citizenship. That plan had changed when Cat literally ran into her as Jade was leaving the Immigration office, and her application papers got knocked into a puddle in the street.

**7 Years Ago**

_Jade had just turned 18 ten hours ago, and was waiting impatiently for the flight that would take her out of Italy. Her father had left her and her mother last year, about a month after she turned 17. Jade wasn't very bothered by that fact, as she and her father didn't get along all that well. What just about broke her though, was when her mom died roughly six months later. Jade and her mother had always been extremely close, and to lose her so suddenly forced Jade to grow up and become bitter and resentful towards everyone, not letting anyone else get close to her. _

_It wasn't just her personality that changed after her mom's death. It was also during this time when Jade started to changed her wardrobe to nothing but black clothes, and dyed her hair jet black with clip in highlights. _

_Jade's mom had left only a small amount of money behind, but if was enough for Jade to make it to America. She had to stay with a friend until her eighteenth birthday since she had no other family left, but then booked herself on the first flight out with no idea of where she was going to stay once she arrived._

_She chose to go to Hollywood because she always wanted to be a world-famous actress. She had taken classes in English her whole life, making her bilingual. She believed this fact would be another asset for her in obtaining roles. Being only eighteen, however, she was somewhat naive, and also believed that she needed to be a United States citizen in order to work in the country. She had checked her luggage, so after picking up her bag, she went outside to hail a taxi. She barked at the driver to take her to the Immigration office._

_Jade was a tad intimidated as she walked into the building, but she refused to show any weakness on the outside. She walked straight up to the desk, looked the twenty-something secretary straight in the eye, and asked with as much attitude as an 18 year old Jade can have, "Look, I'm here to become a United States citizen, and I'm going to need you to make that happen right now."_

_The girl behind the desk looked at Jade with disdain, then popped her gum loudly before replying. "Yeah, I don't think so honey. With that attitude you should consider yourself lucky that I'm even acknowledging you. See this machine right here?" She pointed to a machine on the counter that spit out numbers for people to take and wait to be called upon. "Take a number, then sit your little gothic butt down before I have you escorted out by security."_

_Jade's hand was on the zipper of her bag, ready to pull out her scissors and show this stick-up-her-ass bitch just who she was trying to mess with, but one look at the security camera in the corner of the ceiling had Jade settling for giving the girl a hard glare and yanking a number out before taking a seat. Jade had to piece together the paper she tore off to see that she was number 21. She had just made that discovery when the receptionist hollered out, "Number 5!" The girl had smirked mockingly at Jade as the number was called out._

_Two hours later, nearing 5 o'clock, Jade's number was finally called. As she got to the counter the girl gave her a saccharine smile and asked sarcastically, "How can I help you?"_

_Jade grit her teeth before asking how she could begin the Naturalization process._

_"Take these forms, fill them out, then bring them back and make an appointment to take the citizenship test." (_**And again I have no idea how this whole process works. If you want to look it up and tell me that's great, but sadly the only reward I can give you is a specialized shout out in the next chapter).**

_Jade took the papers without a word, then left to find somewhere to stay for at least the night._

_She was looking over the papers, and noticed that one asked for her address, when someone bumped into her and knocked her papers right into a muddy puddle in the street. _

_"WHAT THE HELL? WHY DIDN'T YOU WATCH WHERE YOU WERE GOING?" Jade shouted at the girl in front of her with too-red-to-be-natural hair._

_"I-I-I-I'm soooooo s-s-sorry!" The girl wailed out, as she couldn't stop bawling. "I-I was j-j-just playing with Mr. Longneck a-and, WHERE IS HE?" The girl looked around frantically before spotting the stuffed giraffe in the same puddle that included Jade's forms. Not caring that the giraffe was wet and dirty, the red haired girl picked it up lovingly and cradled it to her chest._

_There was just something so innocent about seeing the little redhead holding the stuffed animal with tears continuing to cascade down her face. Seeing the girl acting so child-like reminded Jade of happier times, and for the first time since her mom died, Jade felt compelled to quell her murderous urges, and instead say to the girl, "It's okay. I can get more papers tomorrow." _

_"Oh thank you, thank you, thank you!" The girl's countenance changed from sad child, to ecstatic teenager so quickly Jade almost got whiplash. In her joy the redhead moved to give Jade a hug, but was stopped in her tracks as Jade hollered, 'NO!' while taking a step back. The girl wasn't as bothered this time by Jade's harsh tone, so instead of crying she said, "My name is Cat. What's yours?"_

_"Jade, and I don't like cats." Jade hadn't meant for her words to come out harsh, but the tone just seemed to emerge naturally in her voice now._

_"What's that supposed to mean?" Cat's eyes got huge and this time they did start to get watery again._

_"Nothing, never mind." Jade was slightly calmer by this point, but still was not in the mood to explain what she meant to the clueless girl standing in front of her._

_"Kay Kay. I like your accent. Where are you from?" Cat asked while petting her giraffe._

_"Italy. Now I've got to go find someplace to stay, so bye." Jade started to walk off, but was stopped by Cat's shout of excitement._

_"WAIT! You can stay with me! You can be my best friend and we can have sleepovers every night." Cat looked at Jade hopefully._

_"Yeah that's not gonna happen. Your family probably won't like you bringing a stranger home...though I bet it wouldn't be the first time." The last part was mumbled._

_"Oh that's okay. It's just me, my dad, and my brother. My mom died ten years ago when I was 8. She's the one who gave me this giraffe for my birthday that year, and my brother does things all the time that he's not supposed to do. LIke one time he-"_

_Jade had to bite back a few tears at the mention of Cat's mom's death. Jade fingered the sterling silver circle necklace (a gift from her own mother for her 18th birthday as a symbol of her mom's never ending love) adorning her neck, and knew right then that she and the child-like girl in front of her were kindred spirits. She interrupted Cat to say that she would accept the offer, then proceeded to follow Cat to what would become her first home in America._

**Present Day**

Long story short, Jade never made it back to the Immigration of Naturalization Services office to get a new application. Through Cat's dad, Jade made connections in the movie industry, and stayed in the country by receiving work Visas. This caused her to forget all about the process to become a U.S. citizen, and allowed her to eventually work her way up the ladder to become the successful director she is today. She and Cat have become like sisters, and Jade couldn't ever imagine a time when Cat isn't in her life. She vowed to herself that as soon as she got back Sunday night, she would call Cat to apologize and make things right again.

**A/N: I really don't have anything to say this time, so I'll leave you with a bon voyage my bodacious barracudas :)**


	6. Chapter 6

**Once again you guys never fail to amaze me with the love. It makes me feel supremely happy to know that my first story has been so successful. I'm just in awe every day reading all of the amazing stories in this fandom, and glad that people are liking this one so much.**

**Ok, so guess what time it is? That's right...SHOUT OUT TIME! **

**Grazie mille (ok so I had to use a translator with that one-I'm not that talented...lol) to: ZOMG its Angie (from Chpt 4-comment received after Chpt 5 was posted), xFabinao, ZOMG its Angie (again but this time for Chpt 5), and greenkittycat.**

**Now for a SPECIALIZED SHOUT OUT! Thank you sooooo much to Kaylee who informed me of the Naturalization Process. I wish I could give you more, but virtual cookies are about all I can afford right now. :D**

**Obligatory Disclaimer: Still not currently the owner of **_The Proposal _**or**_ Victorious_

**Happy eating!...I mean reading... ;)**

**CHAPTER 6**

Jade walked into the LAX airport Friday morning with her sunglasses on her face and a scowl prominently in place. So far she had not been having a good morning. FIrst her alarm failed to go off, (she adamantly refused to admit it was her fault because she had broken it yesterday morning by throwing it at the wall because it had gone off and woken her up early to get ready for her and Beck's meeting with Mr. Amberson) then her hair dryer died after two minutes, forcing her to throw her hair up in a messy, wet bun on top of her head. Then, she'd only had time to shove down a protein bar as she was getting into the taxi. At least she got to have something for breakfast, but having no coffee this morning was strike three for Jade. The only thing that kept her from completely tearing off the heads of everyone she came across, was the fact that she had already packed her bags last night.

Fortunately for Jade, even though there are many terminals at the airport, the international flights all leave from the same one (**I've never been to California, let alone LAX, so I just made it similar to one of the airports in my state**). As she neared the check-in desk, she caught sight of Beck and what she saw caused her eyes to light up. She rushed toward him and yanked the cup of coffee out of his hand, even though he had already been holding it out to her, and proceeded to indulge in her favorite beverage. She smiled for the first time all morning, and finally believed that something would go right for her today.

"You're welcome." Beck smiled as he spoke. He didn't expect a thank you since he has never gotten one any other time. He then bent down and grabbed both the bag Jade was going to check, as well as his own, and went to get their boarding passes.

Beck had known Jade long enough to be able to read her mannerisms with practiced ease. This skill, combined with the fact that he was aware she hated Canada, led to his decision that it would be best not to start any conversation with her, at least not at this time of day combined with her present appearance. Rather, he would let her choose whether or not she wanted to speak with him.

Jade was thankful Beck kept quiet, because she was definitely in no mood to participate any conversation on the flight. Instead, she had popped her headphones in and listened to her ipod while reading the latest issue of whatever trashy magazine she happened to grab before they had boarded.

"Ugh I can't believe she's married to him!" Beck smiled to himself at Jade's outburst.

Five minutes later...

"Oh my god. She actually thinks that would look good in public?" At this Beck gave an amused snort, but refrained from looking in Jade's direction because he wanted to hear what else she had to say.

Three minutes later...

"Who the hell knocked her up? Glad I never hired that slut."

Beck, almost sat silently shaking in his seat after that comment. Unlike Jade, he had realized that her voice wasn't all that quiet as she had been making her remarks. Even though Beck was throughly enjoying listening to what was coming out of Jade's mouth, he had finally gotten tired of receiving glares from other passengers, and waved his hand over the magazine to get her attention.

"What?" She had calmed down considerably after drinking another cup of coffee, but still didn't want to be bothered.

"Look, some people aren't exactly thrilled with your commentary. I know you don't care what they think, but for the safety of the public and so my parents don't have to bail either of us out of jail, will you please try to keep your thoughts private?" Beck gave her his most winning smile, hoping she wouldn't choose to create a scene on the plane.

Contrary to popular belief, Jade didn't always like to argue. She knew when to pick her battles while still asserting her dominance. She simply rolled her eyes, huffed out a "whatever," and went back to flipping pages.

Beck savored his little victory and settled back to take a nap for the rest of the flight.

/

After Beck collected their bags, he and Jade made their way outside to where Beck's parents, along with his grandma, were waiting.

"Mom, Dad, Nana, I'd like you to meet Jade West. Jade, this is my mother, Mary, my dad, Craig, and my Nana, Betty (**Yeah I'm sure you can guess why I chose those names**)." Beck was fervently praying that his family wouldn't create a scene when they realized Jade was with him, since he never told them _who_ exactly would be accompanying him on this trip.

Although his mom was burning with the need to ask why Jade was there, luckily for Beck she was able to pick up the subtle hints he was sending, and settled for saying, "It's nice to finally meet you Jade. We've heard so much about you."

"Yeah, um, thanks." At Beck's slight glare, she added, "It's nice to meet you guys too. Happy?" The question was directed at Beck, and ignoring the looks his family was sending in their direction, he responded affirmatively.

"Enough small talk. Let's get your stuff in the car ." Beck's dad had started lifting the bags as he spoke, but was then helped by Beck to load them into the car's trunk.

The car ride was silent, save for Beck's Nana trying to sing along to the music on the radio, but always ending up a few beats off. Each person was lost in thought, and no one attempted to begin a conversation.

Roughly one hour later, (57 minutes to be exact-guess who had been counting?) Beck began to perk up as his hometown came into view. He didn't really miss Canada per say, he was simply overcome by a feeling of nostalgia. Seeing the familiar 'Irricana Welcomes You. Population: 2375' sign, with Alberta's motto, 'Strong and Free' underneath, (**Both the sign itself and the population total are made up, but the motto is true**) stirred up both good and bad memories. He was so lost in reminiscing, he failed to realize they had pulled up to the dock where the family boat was tied. The boat would be their final mode of transportation before reaching the family home. Jade, however, didn't know this, so when she let out a groan of disproval, Beck was hardly surprised. "Relax. It's only a 15 minute ride, then we'll finally be there." His words failed to appease Jade, for she had begun to internally freak out at how long Beck said they would be in the boat. She had an irrational fear of water, be it oceans or lakes, and vowed to never tell anyone, not even Cat, that secret.

Unlike Beck, Jade had been paying rapt attention to everything they passed on the drive from the airport. She wanted to catalogue all that she saw so she could add it to her ever growing list of 'Things I HATE about Canada.' As the car entered the town of Irricana, Jade began to notice a pattern developing. On just about every other store they passed, the name Oliver was displayed. Jade knew that was Beck's last name, but seeing it all over town was causing her to think that she really didn't know much about her assistant at all. She decided that she was going to question him more about it when the time was right.

Following Beck and Jade's exchange once they had gotten to the dock, everyone proceeded to board the boat, albeit with Jade going at a much slower pace than the rest. Finally, after 15 of the longest minutes of Jade's life, the sprawling grounds and spacious house came into view. After seeing all the stores in town portraying the Oliver name, Jade was hardly surprised at how luxurious everything seemed, and was beginning to put the puzzle together in her mind.

Beck noticed tents set up around the house, along with random people walking around holding plastic cups. "Mom, what is going on? Nana's birthday isn't until tomorrow and I know these people aren't camping out here for her." Turning to Betty he replied, "No offense Nana."

Betty just smiled and waved Beck off to say she wasn't at all bothered by his comment.

"No Beck, these people aren't here for Nana. Only family will be celebrating with her, because that's what Nana wants." It was Mary who had spoken.

"She's right Beck." Betty had interrupted Mary. "I don't want some big fancy shindig. I just want the people I love the most to be with me. We're not even having a party at all. We're going to the seafood restaurant, Shellfish for Life, for a nice dinner, and I don't think that place is big enough for 20 people, let alone half this town."

"Ok, I understand and respect that Nana, but that's tomorrow. So Mom, again I ask, why are all these people here right now?" Beck was starting to believe that this party had something to do with his coming home. As soon as he confirmed to his mother that he would be here this weekend, she had sounded extra excited, and couldn't wait to get him off the phone.

Mary knew she couldn't avoid the question forever, so she told Beck the truth. "When you told me that you would be here this weekend, I decided to invite some people over for a Welcome Home party."

Knowing how much Jade hated parties, unless there was scissors somehow involved, Beck tried to get himself and Jade out of socializing. "Mom I think Jade and I need to just rest and recover from the flight. We can catch up with everyone tomorrow." He saw the look happiness? gratitude? relief? on Jade's face and knew he had done the right thing.

"Nonsense. It's not even 5 o'clock yet. Besides, all these people showed up just to see you since it's been years since you've been home Beck. YEARS!" She had started crying as she said the final word.

"Look at what you've done again Beck. Who do you think has to console her every time she gets like this? Me, that's who! Well, not this time. Since you're here, you fix it." Craig had always hated seeing his wife cry, but when the reason was because of their son, it made him feel all the more helpless.

Beck, feeling properly chagrined, walked over to his mother. He hugged her while saying, "I'm sorry mom. I know it took a lot of work to put all of this together, and I'm very appreciative for all of your effort. I can see how much the party means to you, so we'll stay and be good guests of honor." He could see Jade, arms crossed across her chest, shooting him evil looks over his mom's shoulder. He knew she wouldn't be happy, but in a way he was glad that he would get to catch up with some of his old friends. He stared back at Jade and mouthed the word 'deported,' causing her to lose the murderous glare.

"T-thank y-you Beck. T-that's all I-I ask." Mary was smiling and wiping away the remaining tears on her face as she pulled away from the hug, and Beck was glad his mom was happy again.

"Well, let's get this show on the road then, shall we? I'm on the prowl and looking for some lovin' tonight." Betty may have been pushing 90, but she still had plenty of spunk in her.

Three jaws simultaneously dropped, while expressions of "Mom!" "Nana!" and "Betty" were uttered. Jade just smirked and thought that she might actually like a member of Beck's family.

/

They had been at the 'party' for 16 minutes, (Jade knew she was obsessed with counting, but when she was in the presence of, in her opinion, the dumbest people in the world, she needed something to distract her from her bad thoughts. "Jade, just because they live here does not make them dumb." During a break from reminiscing, Beck had tried to get Jade to see that his old friends were actually fun people, but she wasn't buying it. "Oh yeah? Then _why_ do they continue to live in _Canada_?" He didn't want to get into a pointless argument with Jade, so he had dropped the conversation entirely) and Jade had started to think that going back to Italy wouldn't be all that bad. The more distance she put between herself and _Canadians,_ (she shuddered as she thought the word) the happier she would be. Ironically, she had conveniently forgotten that Beck himself was a native Canadian.

Not even two minutes after joining the party, Jade had gotten herself a cup full of liquid refreshment. The more she was in the presence of Beck's friends, however, the quicker she drank, and as of last count, she had gone through five cups of 'punch' while only pausing slightly to refill her cup. She knew that if she kept drinking she wouldn't have to talk to these people, but now she was beginning to regret drinking so much. She hated to leave Beck's side, for he was the only one she could handle being around, but she thought asking him to accompany her to the bathroom would seem a little awkward. She figured if she hurried, she could be back by his side in less than a few minutes.

Not even Jade knew how it had happened, but somehow the most meticulous director in Hollywood, who only needs to hear something once and it's memorized, got lost as she tried to find the bathroom. She started swearing like a sailor internally (because there were too many people around and she didn't want to look crazy). Jade flat out refused to stop one of 'them' (as she is now calling all Canadians) and ask for further directions, but after five minutes of searching like a lab rat trying to find the cheese in a maze, Jade broke down and stopped the next person she saw with a finger snap and a, "Hey you!"

The girl appeared to be around Jade's age, but that's where the similarities ended. The girl's looks were the polar opposite to Jade's. Where Jade's hair went almost halfway down her back and was black as night, the other girl's went just past her shoulders, as bright and golden as the midday sun. Jade had eyes resembling the bluest of oceans, while the girl standing in front of her possessed eyes of an earthly greenish brown. Jade was also happy to note that she stood at least three inches taller than the other girl, and could therefore use this fact to intimidate the fair haired girl. Jade got no further than, "Where's-" before she was interrupted.

"Hi! Are you looking for a specific room or a person?" The girl was nice and polite, but didn't seem ditzy like Cat. She actually reminded Jade more of Tori, and for that Jade decided she was never going to like this girl (though she would grudgingly admit Tori was kind of a friend now, but it had taken years to get to that point).

Wanting to stab this girl with her scissors for interrupting, Jade restrained the urge because the need to pee was becoming severely urgent. Instead she gritted out, "Bathroom."

Ignoring Jade's irritated tone, the girl said, "Ok, here let me show you. By the way my name's Violet, what's yours?" (**For those of you who've seen the movie, you know which character she is, although I know I didn't keep with the pattern. I just thought this was a better name choice**).

Violet tried to grab Jade's arm to direct her the right way, but Jade's shout of, "_Never _touch me," halted her attempt in mid-air.

"Alright, how about you just follow me then?" Violet then led Jade to the correct room and left her with a, "Goodbye. It was nice meeting you. I hope we'll get to talk more later!" The smile never left Violet's face throughout the whole interaction, even when Jade slammed the bathroom door in her face before she had finished speaking.

/

Finding her way back to the party took Jade significantly less time than finding the bathroom. Fortunately for her, and the partygoers, she was never stopped in her search for Beck. After a few minutes of looking, Jade found him with his back to her. He was talking to someone, but Jade was unable to make out anything identifiable about the other person. She decided to change her path to see if she could get a better look at the person with whom Beck was speaking. As the person's appearance was revealed though, Jade began quickening her pace for a reason she was no where near ready to admit yet, even to herself. It was the girl who had showed her to the bathroom. Ruby, or Scarlet, or some other colorful sounding name. The fact that Beck was talking to the girl wasn't what made Jade speed up. It was seeing the chick's hand comfortably rubbing Beck's arm, like it was the most natural thing in the world, that gave Jade the weird feeling of needing to be next to Beck as soon as possible.

When Jade got into Rose's? line of vision, she heard a, "Hey you found me!" The words made Jade scowl in annoyance, not caring who witnessed the action.

At Violet's words Beck turned towards where she was looking, effectively knocking her hand off his arm, and gave a small smile while raising an eyebrow in question as Jade finally reached the duo.

"So you two know each other?" The question was directed at Jade, and Beck received an eye roll in response.

"No. Lavender here happened to be in the house as I was looking for the bathroom."

"Actually my name is Violet, but they're both in the purple family, so that was close. I still don't know your name though, but I'm guessing that you know Beck?"

Once again, Beck had to deflect what could potentially be a murderous situation. "Yes. Actually, she's here as my guest. Violet, I'd like to introduce you to Jade West. Jade, I'd like you to officially meet Violet Leblanc, my ex-girlfriend." Beck had absolutely no idea why he told Jade that Violet was his ex (actually he had some idea, but like Jade, he couldn't yet admit anything).

Jade's eyes had momentarily widened upon hearing how close Violet and Beck had once been, but they were back to normal so quickly that thankfully no one had seen the action.

"Wow, Jade is such a pretty name. Isn't it cool that we both have names that are colors? Have you ever been to Irricana before? Beck do you remember going to the drive-in theater on Friday nights? You should show Jade around town and take her there." The questions were asked in Violet's cheery way, but only Jade had noticed the underlying current of jealousy in Violet's voice as the last statement was made.

Knowing he was going to try and stop her again, Jade gave Beck a look of warning as she opened her mouth to speak, but was cut off by a familiar squeal of, "JADEYYYYY!"

**A/N: Dun dun dun...lol. Hope you had fun reading this one. Sorry about the cliffhanger, but I can't give you guys everything just yet. Until next time, Ciao my charming cheetahs :)**


	7. Chapter 7

**Please don't hate me guys, but it looks like we're getting a flat tire...lol. Actually, life is starting to get in the way with my sister and her baby, so I'm apologizing in advance because I may have to break my posting streak. I've been trying to get a new chapter out every few days, but it's looking like it'll probably be at least a whole week after this one before I can get Chapter 8 out. I'm just warning you ahead of time because I don't want anybody getting stranded and having to wait for the bus to ride back home :p. Thanks for sticking with me, and hopefully the wait will be worth it! :)**

**Guess what time it is now though? That's right...it's SHOUT OUT TIME!**

**Maximas ago vobis gratias (who said Latin is a dead language? :p) to: Dawnmist of RiverClan, tsttoain, Kaylee, Jadorade, and greenkittycat.**

**Still don't own either **_The Proposal _**or**_ Victorious_**, but my lawyer says I might have a pretty good case, so here's hoping!...lol.**

**Until that happens, enjoy this chapter :D**

**Chapter 7**

Both Beck and Jade became still as statues, while their eyes had widened in shock and locked on each other's, upon hearing the voice they knew so well.

Cat came running up to the trio, (as best she could in high heels) while dragging Andre by the hand behind her.

"Hey Jadey! What are you doing here?" Cat asked with her usual confusion. She knew they were at Beck's family's house to welcome Beck home, but seeing Jade with Beck threw her off. Cat had been having such a great time with Andre in Canada, however, that she had completely forgotten Jade's extreme outburst at work from earlier that week, and was acting like normal...well at least what constituted as normal for Cat.

Andre chimed in with his own, "Hey Beck. Jade." He hadn't noticed Violet standing there at first, as he was still in shock at seeing Jade at the Oliver family home in Canada, of all places. At Violet's happy shout of, "Andre!" however, he turned towards the girl and had just enough time to brace himself before she threw herself into his arms.

"Dang girl, it's good to see you again." He stepped back after the requisite amount of time for a friendly hug, and stood next to Cat, wrapping his arm around her waist. "Violet, I'd like you to meet Cat, my girlfriend. Cat, this is Violet. She's one of my oldest and closest friends from childhood, along with Beck here." Andre pointed his free thumb at the still stunned Beck as he said the name.

Luck was with Jade as Cat was suitably distracted for the moment, and the red haired girl gave Violet her full attention. "It's so nice to meet you! So you've known Andre since he was little? What was he like? Tell me all you know!" Cat, in her enthusiasm, grabbed Violet's arm and started dragging the Canadian girl across the lawn, breaking away from Andre's hold, and not even acknowledging his shout of 'Hey!' as she left.

"Good to see you again Violet. Cat don't believe a word she says. I love you baby! Guess I'll see you both later!" Andre hollered after the girls, but only received an over the shoulder wave with her free hand from Violet in response. Cat was too busy rapidly firing off more questions at the blonde to acknowledge her boyfriend's words. He then turned and raised a questioning eyebrow at Beck and Jade who were still doing their immaculate imitation of statues, as they hadn't moved a muscle, except to blink, since Cat and Andre had first joined the group.

Glad that Cat had left, but slightly panicked with Andre still there, Beck finally turned to give his full attention to Andre, and waited for the dread-locked guy to speak first.

"Sooo, anything you want to tell me now Beck?" Andre's voice held none of the current anger he was beginning to feel.

Beck, at a loss for words, ran his hair through his hair while saying, "Well...you see..."

Jade was extremely grateful that Cat had left, and had been staying silent since her departure partly in shock, but mostly to think of reasons to explain her presence here at Beck's family's house. She was brought back to attention at seeing Beck's familiar hand-through-hair gesture. Upon hearing his ineptitude to reply properly, Jade took it upon herself to answer the question. "Beck didn't tell you that I would be coming with him here because I threatened to fire him then blackball him in Hollywood if he ever told a soul. I'm here to gather information for my next screenplay. It's going to be about the worst horror imaginable-being stuck in Canada for an indeterminate amount of time with no way out. Now if that's all, go away so I Beck and I can get back to work."

"One-you can't boss me around here because I'm not on work time, and two-you're making him work while he's on vacation?" Andre didn't fully believe Jade's explanation, but the words did cause his anger to abate somewhat. He wondered if their behavior had anything to do with the reason both had been gone from work the previous morning, but he let his suspicions go for now, and decided he would talk to Beck at a time when Jade wasn't around.

Beck's brain had finally started to function correctly again, and he was able to contribute to the conversation. "Dude, it's okay. Just go find Cat and Violet, and we'll talk later."

"Alright man. I still think something wonky is going on here, but I'll take you at your word...for now. Cat and I are in town all weekend because your mom invited me to your Grandma's birthday party, so call me some time and we'll hang out."

"Sure man. See ya later." Beck watched Andre walk away, and tried to process all that had gone on within the past twenty-five minutes. Beck knew he would have to figure out something good to tell Andre because when it came to most people, but especially his best friend, Beck never could keep secrets for too long.

/

After Andre had gone, Jade let her semi-calm facade fall. "Oh my god. Oh my god. Oh my god. How the hell are we going to explain this to them? Cat won't be a problem because she'll believe anything I tell her, but Andre's another story. He already suspects that I lied to him about the real reason why I'm here. WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO?" Jade's voice rose an octave as she spoke, and by the time she uttered her last question, she was shaking Beck's arm.

"First, you're going to calm down and let go of my arm so we don't cause anymore of a scene." He punctuated his words by taking the hand she was shaking him with in his free one, removing it from his arm, and placing it back at her side. "Then, you're going to tell me who the hell abducted Jade West, because you are not the same woman who just went off on Andre not even three minutes ago." Beck found this new side of Jade extremely amusing, but knew that he couldn't laugh right now because they really were dealing with a serious issue.

Hearing the amusement in Beck's voice brought Jade back to her senses, and she snarled out a, "Shut up."

"Ah, there she is! It's nice to see that you're back to normal." Beck couldn't hide his smile this time. There were still curious eyes watching the two, however, and Beck saw how nervous they wee starting to make Jade, so he suggested a change of scenery. "How about we go inside and have a _private_ conversation?"

Jade, thankful that Beck knew she hated people staring at her, was quick to agree, and the two made their way back to the house.

/

"Ok, so now that we're alone, what are we going to do about this predicament? We need to come up with a story we can agree on so no one will find out the truth." Having gotten away from any prying eyes allowed Jade to return to her no-nonsense, in-charge self.

"Look, I want this deal to work out just as much as you do, (he ignored her snort at this) but I am _not _lying to my best friend anymore. I've never been able to keep any secrets from Andre, and you have _no idea _how hard it has been for me to not tell him about this situation." Beck was becoming frustrated by the fact that he couldn't tell anyone about the plan, but he also knew that he couldn't ruin anything for Jade since this meant so much to her. He was starting to get a stirring waaaaay deep down, (where he still believed such places didn't exist) anytime he thought about Jade having feelings other than anger or disgust.

"Hard for you? So what...you think this is just a walk in the park for me?! UGH! How did I get stuck with-" She was about to continue with something that would've made a sailor blush, but was interrupted, however, by Beck's dad joining their conversation.

"There you are! I've been looking all over the place for you Beck." Craig was aware of the almost murderous glare Jade was sending his way, and decided to add, "Am I interrupting something?" The question had merely been for posterity's sake. Craig knew very well that he was in fact disrupting the conversation Jade and Beck were having. He had been upstairs when the other two had come in, and it wasn't Craig's fault that their voices had carried up the staircase, even though they were muddled and he couldn't quite make out any specific words because they weren't standing directly at the bottom of the stairs. His curiosity got the better of him, and he decided to move closer to investigate...just to make sure everything was okay of course, because he didn't like the tone he was beginning to hear in Jade's voice. He felt it was time to make his presence known, however, when Jade's voice rose above normal volume, and he started to get concerned for his son.

"Actually-" Once again Jade was stopped from saying anything, but this time it was by Beck.

"No dad, we were just finishing up." He studiously ignored Jade as he spoke because he knew there would be nothing positive about her countenance. "Is there something you needed to speak with me about?"

"Actually yes, there is." Craig had seen Jade's expression, and again, what he saw made him slightly uneasy. "Can we go somewhere else?" Craig was not Jade's biggest fan, and based on her current mood, he wanted to be around her as little as possible.

"Sure, let's go back outside." Turning to Jade, "I know you don't want to hang out with people you don't know, and I'm pretty sure you don't want to find Cat right now, so how about you go to the entertainment room-it's right down this hall, third door on the left-and find a movie to watch, and I'll come get you when we're done?" Beck wasn't trying to boss Jade around, but he was trying to currently placate everyone.

Although Jade was still pissed off at Craig's initial interruption, she knew in the back of her mind that she needed to somehow earn Beck's parent's approval because Mr. Amberson was bound to question them, at some point, regarding their opinions about Jade. Telling them about her and Beck's 'relationship' was going to be a whole bowl full of cherries on its own, and Jade hoped Beck would do it this weekend, while swearing them to secrecy. So after squaring her shoulders, and schooling her expression into a much calmer facade, Jade turned to walk towards the entertainment room without saying a word.

/

Beck and Craig found privacy in a corner of the back porch because just about everyone else was on the lawn socializing.

"Ok spill. I know you were eavesdropping and overheard at least part of my conversation with Jade, and that's why you and I are here now, but what I really want to know is what did you hear?" Beck wasn't going to reveal anything to his dad until he discovered how much Craig already knew.

"Honestly Beck I didn't hear all that much. Your voices were muffled. I did hear Jade yelling that something was hard for you, and then I think she said something about walking in the park. What is going on between you two?"

"Dad you know how much I hate keeping secrets, and this is a big one, so I'm going to tell you, but you have to promise that you'll let me tell mom when I'm ready. Can you do that for me?"

"Now you're starting to worry me Beck. Are you in some kind of trouble?"

"Well I guess it depends on how you look at it." Beck was trying to lighten the mood, but his father was not amused. Seeing this, Beck continued more seriously. "Ok, I know you're not going to like this, but just hear me out before you say anything." When Craig gave Beck the 'go on' hand gesture, Beck said, "I know you and mom have both been dying to know why I've brought Jade home with me this weekend. Mom's been trying to get me alone to interrogate me ever since we got to the house." That finally got Beck's father to crack a smile.

"Yeah, between your mom and Nana, I have to go to the mainland just to get some peace and quiet because even the woods around the house here don't provide enough protection." Beck chuckled at Craig's words remembering how he used to try and hide in the woods himself whenever his mother wanted him to do chores, or something else equally horrific. He turned serious once again, however, as Craig's face became sober as well, bringing the conversation back to its original topic. "So, you were talking about why Jade's here?"

Beck inhaled deeply, and let it out slowly before responding. "Yeah, the reason Jade's here with me is because we're dating and I wanted to show her where I grew up." At Craig's raised eyebrows, wide eyes, and dropped jaw, Beck held up a hand to prevent any interruptions, and continued speaking. "I told you that you wouldn't be happy about this, but you agreed to hear me out."

Craig's features returned to normal. He nodded his head slowly, needing to hear the reasoning behind the madness (in his opinion) of Beck's decision.

"I know you and mom aren't all that fond of Jade, but if you just got to know her a little bit, you'd see that she's really not a bad person." Beck didn't realize the truth of what he was saying until the words came out of his mouth. He actually did want his parents to see another side of Jade, one that he happened to glimpse on extremely rare occasions, but he couldn't explain why he wanted his parents to see that side of her. Again he was getting a stirring of something, but unlike last time, it wasn't as far down. This time it had risen to a level Beck only acknowledged in the recesses of his subconscious. Complete silence had filled the air as Beck finished speaking.

After roughly 3 full minutes (give or take 10 seconds-Beck didn't exactly count) of complete silence Craig finally spoke. "Can I say something now?" At Beck's nod, Craig began speaking again. "I'm sorry Beck, but there is no way I would ever want to get to know that woman. From what your mother tells me, Jade is nothing but horrible to you and everyone else at your job." As Craig saw Beck open his mouth to argue, he held up his own hand saying, "You'll get another chance to talk. I listened to you before, so you can hear me out now." Beck nodded his agreement. "As I was saying...from what I've heard from both you and your mother, and after witnessing her behavior several minutes ago, I am inclined to stay as far away from Jade as I can get for the duration of her stay. I was doing some thinking just now, and I believe that you are only dating that woman to assure yourself a leading role in a major Hollywood movie since none of your auditions have worked out." (**Not the best reason I know, but we're just gonna roll with it...lol**).

When it appeared that Craig had gotten his thoughts out, Beck took his turn again. "Are you finished?" Beck's voice was full of anger, but he knew he had to present his case rationally, so he calmed himself down before speaking again. "That couldn't be further from the truth. In case you didn't know, I have made connections of my own simply by being Jade's assistant."

"Really? Tell me Beck, why are you still her assistant then and not a leading actor? I think you're just riding Jade's coattails to see how far she can take you. I may not care too much for her, but she seems like a smart woman, and I think that once she realizes what you're doing, she's going to dump you out on the street with nothing. Then what will you do huh? I'll tell you what you'll do. You'll come crawling back here with your tail between your legs begging for my help, but I will not give you one cent. I offered you both money and connections before you left Irricana, but did you want my help? No, you didn't. You wanted to quote, 'make it in America on my own.' (**couldn't resist but did have to add a little bit...lol**). When this sham of a relationship falls apart on you, remember you've only got yourself to blame." Craig had worked himself up during his rant, and was breathing heavily as he finished.

Again a heavy silence filled the atmosphere surrounding Beck and Craig as both once more became lost in thought.

Unbeknownst to the two men, Jade had gotten bored in the entertainment room, and had wandered outside to find Beck. Once she made her way around to the back of the house, she ran into practically everyone at the party. They were all staring up at the back porch with rapt attention. Jade turned and noticed they were looking up at Beck and Craig. People was chattering amongst themselves trying to speculate as to the topic of the men's argument. The only thing that was agreed on was the fact that it was an argument based on the raised voices of both Beck and his father. Since Jade had no qualms about interrupting the two, (rationalizing that Craig had interrupted she and Beck earlier-turnabout is fair play in her opinion) she proceeded to make her way up the stairs and walked towards them.

Jade had gotten no closer than 15 feet from the men when Beck decided that he'd had enough, and shouted out for the whole lawn of people to hear clearly, "That's it! I will _not _continue to have you bad mouth either me or Jade. Matter of fact, you want to know something dad? I am not using Jade, and you will get to know her, because not only are we together, WE'RE ENGAGED!"

**A/N: Wow look at me with the cliffhangers huh? Super sorry, but hopefully it entices you enough to come back next time and find out where things go from here! Until then, Sayonara my stealthily swift sloths :D**


	8. Chapter 8

**All I can say is a great big gigantic THANK YOU for being so patient with me, especially with how I just stranded you at the end of the last chapter. I'm going to go ahead and let you know now that there will be no cliffhanger at the end of this one. Also, surprise! This is the longest chapter in the whole story so far, (yay!) so if I get behind and take a little longer to get Chapter 9 out, hopefully this will hold you over and you won't want to kill me and leave me on the side of the road...lol.**

**Now comes my favorite part...SHOUT OUT TIME!**

**Maraming salamat (hopefully this is right and my readers in The Philippines aren't offended, because that's what google said it was :D) to: xFabinao, Kaylee, Dawnmist of RiverClan, tsttoain, and Guest**

**Obligatory Disclaimer: Well it turns out that my lawyer was wrong, and I had no case whatsoever. I think it's time to get a new lawyer...lol. So until that happens, I still don't own either **_The Proposal_** or **_Victorious_**.**

**Now, please keep your arms and legs inside the vehicle at all times, and enjoy your ride! :)**

**Chapter 8**

Upon hearing the words that came out of Beck's mouth, Jade froze mid-step, while her jaw dropped so fast and so far down, she might have dislocated it, but at right then that was the least of her concerns. For several seconds (Jade was too stunned to count this time) after Beck's announcement, there was absolutely no sound whatsoever. It seemed as if Mother Nature herself was also too shocked by the news because no birds cawed, no dogs barked, and not a single cricket chirped. The partygoers recovered from the initial shock a lot quicker than Jade. At first everyone just stared unblinkingly at the back porch, then after processing the words that Beck had spoken, broke out into raucous cheers accompanied by a thundering round of applause.

Beck himself had also frozen, eyes wide in shock, after the words left his lips. He was literally shaken out of his stupor by his mother. She had run up on the porch and threw her arms around Beck in a bone-crushing hug after she took in what he had said. She kept repeating "Congratulations" and "Oh my God, my baby's all grown up" over and over into Beck's ear, but refused to let go of him for a full two minutes (or it could have been two hours-time had no meaning given Beck's current state).

Beck's dad was in his own stupor, and failed to notice anything at all going on around him.

Jade was brought out of her own state of astonishment at hearing all the clapping and cheering from their 'audience.' No sooner had she recovered, however, when she was taken by surprise once again. This time it was Cat who had rushed up the porch steps (after practically bowling her way thru the crowd-she may be little, but within lies surprising strength) right behind Mary, and threw her arms around Jade while shouting, "JADEY! JADEY! JADEY! OMG THIS IS SO AMAZING! How long have you and Beck been dating? Why didn't you tell me? I thought I was your best friend? Can I be in your wedding?" Along with possessing hidden strength, the red head also had the lung capacity of a whale. She had never stopped once to take a breath the whole time she was asking Jade questions.

"NEVER CALL ME THAT! AND QUIT BOUNCING!" Jade had rediscovered her voice as she semi-forcefully pulled herself away from Cat's arms. She remembered how she had left things with Cat a couple of days ago. She was too stunned during their earlier encounter, however, to speak with her then, so Jade currently lowered her voice to a more normal volume and said, "Come with me Cat. We're going somewhere more private to talk." She grabbed Cat by the arm and began leading the red haired girl away.

Cat was way too excited about the current news, and wasn't even fazed by Jade's initial outburst. She did stop bouncing, but she couldn't get rid of the twinkle in her eyes, nor the expansive smile that spread from ear to ear. "Kay kay!" She let out as Jade dragged her off the porch and inside the house.

Mary, meanwhile, had finally pulled herself away from Beck, but still couldn't wipe off the smile that appeared to be permanently attached to her face. She also had tons of questions to ask her son, but knew she'd have to wait until things quieted down. She saw Jade leading Cat away out of the corner of her eye, and realized that Beck would have to attend to all the guests' responses on his own. Because of this, Mary knew that it would be a while before she could commence the interrogation. She turned to face Craig and saw that he was simply standing there with a look on his face as if still trying to understand what he just heard. She grabbed his hand to get his attention while saying, "Come on honey, let's go for a little walk." Craig let himself be led away without protest. They passed Andre coming up the steps, but only Mary acknowledged the dread-locked boy with a smile.

/

Jade took Cat straight into the bathroom because it was really the only room Jade could remember how to find. She let go of Cat's arm only to begin pacing while muttering harshly, "Oh my god. _Oh mio dio. Questo non va bene. Questo non può essere accadendo adesso. Come posso spiegare questo? Stupido Beck e la sua bocca! _" (**Translation: "**_Oh my god. This is not good. This cannot be happening right now. How am I going to explain this? Stupid Beck and his big mouth!_**" I used an online translator, so if it's not 100% right, that's what I wanted it to say...lol**). She didn't think Cat could hear her, but she was wrong.

"Jadey? You're kinda scaring me right now. You know I don't like it when you speak those funny words. And when you say them like that they sound so mean. Isn't this a good thing?" Cat spoke in a voice that was more timid than usual. Although she was scared from Jade's yelling, Cat really wanted to hear all about Jade and Beck's relationship, and therefore stayed where she was while waiting for the Italian born director to calm down.

Just like that the proverbial light bulb went off above Jade's head, and she turned to face Cat with a winsome smile on her face. Jade knew she'd have to speak to Cat in the soothing voice a mother uses when speaking to her child in order for Cat to really listen and believe the words she was saying. "Cat, I want you to listen closely to what I'm about to say because I really don't want to repeat myself, and no speaking until I tell you it's okay. Got it?"

After receiving an affirming nod from the red head, Jade continued.

"Now, I want to start by telling you that I'm sorry for yelling at you the other day at work. I had just gotten bad news and I shouldn't have taken it out on you. You know I'm not one to apologize for anything, so you better enjoy this moment." She glanced at Cat's wide-eyed amazement, but was glad she wasn't interrupted. "Ok, now as for what you heard Beck shout out just a few minutes ago, yes we're engaged, but no one was supposed to find out. It's hard to explain what's going on, but Cat you _cannot _repeat anything you hear or see while we're in Canada to _anyone _back in Hollywood, but you are allowed to tell your boyfriend because I'm sure Beck will let him know what's going on. If I find out you said something to anyone else though, I don't care how close we are, I will use my favorite scissors and cut off all of that pretty red hair of yours."

Cat inhaled sharply upon hearing those words, and her hands flew to the top of her head, where she started patting her hair to make sure it was still there. She ignored Jade's earlier order for her to be silent, and replied with a, "Graphic."

Apparently Jade had expelled any lingering anger because she didn't even reprimand Cat for speaking without permission.

Taking the risk that she probably wasn't going to get yelled at for talking again, Cat hesitatingly began questioning Jade for the second time since 'the announcement.' This time, however, it was about something that was still confusing to her (well one thing amongst the many). "So if you and Beck are like together, how come I've heard him talk about going out with other girls?"

Jade turned away after she finished speaking, so when she heard Cat's question, she almost gave herself whiplash by turning her head back around so quickly. "WHAT?! How many other girls has he gone out with? How serious were they? How come I've never met any of them?" When she finally stopped to take a breath, common sense seemed to prevail within Jade, and she cut off her line of questioning almost as soon as she had started. "Never mind. Forget everything I just said. I'm not really thinking straight right now with everything that's gone on recently."

Cat simply sat there staring wide-eyed at Jade's line of questioning, and this time stayed silent until she was told by Jade that it was safe to speak again.

After taking a few calming breaths, Jade felt coherent enough to begin again. "What I meant to say earlier is that Beck had to pretend to be interested in other girls so our relationship wouldn't be discovered. People would make assumptions about why we're dating, and we both felt that it would be best to keep everything secret...until now apparently. I know you want to know everything, but Cat, now is really not the time to have that discussion. WIth that said, I guess I have nothing else, so it's your turn. No more questions about my relationship with Beck though." Jade wanted to roll her eyes when she saw Cat's 'thinking' face, (which consisted of Cat staring off into space and biting the corner of her bottom lip between her teeth) already regretting giving the red head another chance to say something.

Cat surprised Jade by sounding a lot more grown up than she was usually given credit for being. "I still don't understand why you didn't tell me. I thought I was your best friend?" Jade saw Cat's eyes starting to get watery and opened her mouth while moving to interrupt the red head, but Cat soon recovered enough and continued before Jade could do or say anything. "I'm not mad at you, and I promise Jadey that I won't tell a soul anything that you don't want me to, but only on one condition."

Jade was so grateful that Cat was being so mature in this situation. She let Cat get away with calling her that awful name just this once, and vowed to agree with anything Cat asked. "Of course baby girl. What can I do for you?"

"You have to promise that when we get home we'll have a sleepover, and you'll tell me what's going on. I mean I wanna know _everything_. You and Beck are like my family and I want you both to be happy, so I'm glad that you guys are together." That was the first time Jade could remember Cat ever saying something that sounded so grown up. Of course what she said caused those weird stirrings in Jade's stomach again, and the more they came, the harder they were becoming to ignore.

While responding, Jade decided to ignore the rest of Cat's comments, and just concentrated on the promise Cat had asked of her. "Yes Cat, we can have a sleepover when we get home (Jade smiled as she began to realize that she liked being able to call Hollywood her home). I promise that I'll tell you everything you want to know then. It's crazy to see how much Andre has changed you since you guys started dating. You're having flashes of being a grown up every once in a while." Jade kept the smile on her face to let Cat know that she didn't mean anything bad with that statement.

Cat had gone off into her own little dreamworld of cotton candy and unicorns after she heard Jade's promise to hang out together, and was only brought back to the present, when as usual, someone mentioned Andre's name while he wasn't with her. She got so excited thinking about her boyfriend, however, that she didn't hear Jade's attempt at a joke. She jumped up from where she had been sitting and ran out the door after yelling that she had to find Andre without even saying goodbye to Jade.

"Bye to you too Cat!" Jade hollered after the bouncy girl. She was grateful that Cat was placated for the moment, and only because she was alone, took a minute to laugh softly to herself as she watch the red head leave.

/

_Meanwhile back with Beck and Andre..._

"Dude, WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?!" Far from being happy, at that moment all Andre felt was betrayal and anger at Beck. He punctuated his question with a little-harder-than-friendly punch to Beck's arm.

"OW MAN! That hurt! Beck rubbed his arm while noticing that everyone was still pretty much glancing in his direction. Look, we both know this is not the place to be having this conversation, so let's go into the library because nobody goes in there, and we shouldn't be interrupted. I promise I'll answer all your questions then."

Still full of anger, but feeling a little better after punching Beck, and knowing that he was finally going to get the truth from his best friend, Andre agreed, and like Jade and Cat, the two guys went inside the house. Beck didn't even acknowledge the people still gathered on the lawn watching him leave, therefore, he failed to notice the flash of pain that flickered through Violet's eyes. He hoped that either his parents or Nana would handle things until he was ready to accept everyone's congratulations on his 'engagement.'

As soon as Beck shut the door behind him, Andre was on him again. "Care to explain to me NOW why you've been not only keeping a relationship secret, but AN ENGAGEMENT as well?"

"I know. I know. I have A LOT of explaining to do, and I will, but before I get into all that, I need you to promise me something." Beck looked pleadingly at Andre, begging him to agree to the request.

"Normally I would without hesitation, but things are different now Beck. You're going to have to tell me what it is first before I promise anything."

"That's fair. Ok, I'm asking you to promise me that whatever I tell you in this room stays in this room. You can't tell _anyone_. Not my parents, not your parents, not our friends, and _especially_ not Cat. I know you hate keeping secrets from her, but until I talk to Jade and find out what she's told Cat, you cannot tell a soul. Can you _please_ do that for me?" Beck contemplated actually getting down on his knees to beg, but decided to save the dramatics for when they were really needed.

After his initial reaction, Andre's anger had slowly been fading since they left the porch. Now he was upset with Beck, but wasn't boiling with rage. Knowing Beck for as long as he has, Andre knew his best friend had to have a very good explanation for what was currently going on, and Andre decided he was going to stick by Beck. "Alright, I'm willing to listen to your explanation. As of right now I'll promise not to tell anyone, including Cat, but this whole thing had better be worth it."

"Trust me dude, it is." Beck inhaled deeply before the opening of his monologue. "I'm going to be 100% truthful about everything, but no interruptions until I've gotten everything out okay?"

Andre nodded to let Beck know he would stay silent. He took a seat on one of the couches and waited for Beck to explain everything.

Beck began pacing as he spoke, because it helped his train of thought. "Okay. Let me back up a few days. I know you remember how pissed Jade was at work earlier this week. You even asked me to calm her down because she was unnecessarily mean to Cat." He paused to glance at his best friend, and at Andre's nod of confirmation, he continued. "Well the reason she was so mad was because her meeting with the studio execs didn't quite go as well as it could have. They threatened to deport her back to Italy, and replace her with another director to finish the movie, because her Visa has expired."

Andre's eyes widened considerably at the words he just heard, but wanting to hear the rest of the story, he kept his promise and stayed quiet.

"I didn't know this fact when I walked in with her coffee, but oh boy do I have such wonderful timing (said sardonically). Turns out there is a way for Jade to be able to stay in Hollywood and continue making her movie. She can marry a United States citizen, thereby becoming a legal resident." Beck was smiling ruefully at this point, but knew he had to continue his story because his best friend needed to know how bad the situation truly was.

With every word that came out of Beck's mouth, Andre's jaw kept dropping closer and closer to the ground. A whole army of flies could've flown into his mouth and he wouldn't have even noticed.

"And as I'm sure you've probably figured out by now, you're looking at the lucky man who gets to gets to undertake that job. Sorry I didn't tell you before, but it's just been _a lot_ to process these past couple of days, and I still haven't gotten my head completely wrapped around the whole situation yet." Beck decided that he'd said enough for now, and went to sit on the other couch in the room, across from Andre.

Too shocked by what he just heard, Andre forgot all about his anger at Beck. The two sat in companionable silence, each lost in thought. Finally it was broken when Andre said, "Wow. That's a lot to take in man. I'm sorry for getting so upset with you. When I heard your outburst, I just assumed you were dating behind my back and I hated that you didn't think I deserved to know. After hearing everything just now though, I can see why you kept it from me."

"Yeah, normally I never keep things from you because you're like a brother to me, but you know how persuasive Jade is when she doesn't want something known. Let's just say that simply blackballing me in Hollywood would seem like heaven compared to what she did threaten to do to me if I said anything." Beck shuddered at the memory of Jade's very detailed description as to what, in her book, constituted as a punishment for that crime.

Seeing Beck's shudder caused Andre to do so as well, though his wasn't as noticeable. Once he recovered, he spoke again. "Let me get something straight. You're telling me that Jade and you have to get married so she can become a United States citizen, but how is that possible? Don't _you_ have to be a citizen first in order to make it valid for her?"

Beck, visibly calmer now and glad that Andre was being so understanding about everything, said, "I'm already a U.S. citizen. My mom was born and raised in New York City, and met my dad while he was there on vacation. They got married and decided to live here so dad could take over the family business. Although I was born here, my mom being an American citizen gives me dual citizenship." This wasn't the first time Beck had to explain that to someone. Shortly after their plane had taken off and before she became absorbed in her magazine, Jade had asked (demanded) why Mr. Amberson didn't inquire about Beck's own American citizenship since he was from Canada.

"That makes sense. Being fake married to the wicked witch is about the worst it gets though, right? I mean yeah that's bad enough, but you won't have to stay married for too long, will you?" Andre could only imagine Beck's confusion regarding the whole situation, as he himself felt as if he were in a tiny raft in the middle of the ocean with nothing but the current to help him.

Beck gave a humorless laugh before answering his friend. "Hah, I wish that's as bad as it got. It actually gets worse. Let me backtrack a little bit. The reason we were gone yesterday morning was because we were meeting with an immigration officer, Mr. George Amberson. He _kindly_ explained to me that if he finds out we're faking anything, I can get fined $250,000 and spend five _lovely_ years in jail."

"Oh my god dude! I really had no idea how bad this has been for you. I swear I won't say anything to anyone. I'll also help you with whatever you need. Just let me know man." The more Andre heard, the more he was glad it was Beck in this situation and not himself. "I'm gonna go back out to the party now and try to handle everyone while you take a few minutes to recover."

"Thanks 'Dre. You really are a great friend, and I'm glad you're here with me this weekend."

With Beck's final words, Andre nodded at his friend then left the library.

/

As soon as Andre turned around after shutting the door, he was literally run into by his girlfriend.

"Oh gosh, I'm _so_ sorry!" Cat in her rush to find Andre, wasn't paying attention to where she was going. Realizing she had actually run into her boyfriend, she squealed and jumped up, throwing her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist.

"Whoa baby, what's the rush?" Never one to complain about holding Cat, Andre was still curious as to where she was going in such a hurry.

"I was looking for you silly!" She stopped to give him a loud lip-smacking kiss. After they parted for air, and when Cat regained her breath, she spoke again, but this time it was in a whisper as she actually had the presence of mind to not want to be overheard. "I was just talking to Jadey and she told me what's going on with her and Beck. She said that it was okay for me to tell you, but I can't tell anyone else or she'll cut off my hair." Once again one hand flew up to her head to make sure her hair was still attached.

"Don't worry Cat. I won't let anyone harm a single strand of hair on your pretty red velvet head." He moved a hand up Cat's side to slide a lock of her hair through his fingers.

"Thank you so much my big Canadian cupcake!...hee hee." Cat punctuated her gratitude with another kiss to Andre's lips. As their kiss started to get more heated, Andre turned and pinned Cat between himself and the wall. She mewled in pleasure while trying to push herself as close to her boyfriend as was humanly possible.

Just as Andre was about to throw Cat down and prove how much she meant to him right then and there, the two were interrupted by a group of drunk girls complaining about the, "Bitch who stole our Beck."

Their little love bubble effectively popped, and not in the mood to get into a verbal argument with the drunk girls, Andre set Cat back on her feet, grabbed her hand, and led her outside to face the music on behalf of his best friend.

**A/N: See? No cliffhanger, just like I promised. Aren't you happy? Hope you all have a great day, and until next time Valete (bringing the Latin back...watch out now...lol) my vivacious velociraptors :D**


	9. Chapter 9

**Hey guys! Please don't kill me! I'm sooooo sorry that I've been such a slacker. In my defense, I do have a very good excuse. I don't know if any of you have ever thrown out your sciatica, but two weeks ago I did. It is one of the worst pains I have ever experienced in my life (FYI I've never given birth). I could barely get out of bed for like two whole days, and when I did get up, I walked slower than my grandma. It just takes your breath away and makes everything so hard to do. I was able to make it to the hospital, but all they did was give me a muscle relaxer and sent me home. I still am unclear as to how I did it, but I was told it can take like 4-6 hours after the injury occurs for it to set in. I have just been so unable to work on my story much ever since it happened. I'm not 100% happy with this chapter, (it's more like 90%...lol) but I wanted to get something out to you all for being so incredibly patient with me, and not giving up on my story yet! You guys are so amazing! **

**Now for all of our favorite part-SHOUT OUT TIME!**

**Muito obrigado (I'm currently watching a movie with Gisele in it so there's some Portuguese for ya) to: xFabinao, the Guest, and Dawnmist of RiverClan!**

**Disclaimer time: Due to the lovely hospital bill I have now incurred, I will not be able to afford the rights to **_The Proposal _**or**_ Victorious_**. Therefore, I do not currently, nor will I ever, own either one.**

**And now for the hopefully fun stuff!**

**Chapter 9**

By the time Beck and Jade had rejoined the party, (somehow without managing to run into each other before hand) Andre had pretty much calmed things down, and no one attacked Beck with any questions. At that point, most people were leaving to go back to the mainland, and simply offered congratulations on their way out.

"Hey Jade. Listen, I'm sorry for-" Beck had finally found Jade and was trying to apologize, but was cut off before he could get too far.

"Look, there's too many people still here, and I haven't quite calmed down enough to not want to kill you yet, so let's just try to get through this thing right now, and then we'll discuss damage control later." Jade spoke in the eerily calm tone that always belied her immense anger.

Beck was normally a very calm and collected person, but when Jade used that voice, it never failed to rattle his nerves. He had to swallow a slight lump in his throat before replying. "U-um, okay. T-that sounds g-good."

"There you two are!" Betty had picked that exact moment to join Beck and Jade, and Beck couldn't have been happier to see his Nana. Anything to keep him from being alone with Jade in her current state was paradise in Beck's opinion. "I just heard the news and wanted to congratulate you both! I'm sorry I missed the big announcement, but I was in the woods with Mr. L-"

"NANA! TMI! TMI!" Beck did _not_ want to hear anything else Betty had to say, and practically knocked her over in his rush to cover her mouth with his hand.

Jade, on the other hand, was curious to hear what else was going to come out of the older woman's mouth, if only for the fact that it would take the attention off of her and Beck. "No Beck, let her talk. I want to hear all about your Nana's adventures." Jade's mischievous smile had Beck rolling his eyes, but he did not remove his hand right away.

"Oh no! I am not removing my hand until I know that Nana's not going to continue with her current news." Beck stared somewhat defiantly at Jade.

"Oh really? Well, speaking of your hand's present placement Beck, what the hell was that?! You don't treat your grandmother that way. If you _ever_ do that to me, or talk to me like that, you'll come back with one less hand, a black eye, and no fiancee." Jade actually liked Betty, and in trying to defend the older woman, didn't even realize how naturally the word fiancee came out of her mouth without making her want to gag.

Beck, on the other hand, had zoned out with the ease in which Jade spoke about their 'relationship,' but as the rest of her words finally made it through the fog in his brain, a slightly chagrined look formed on his face as he spoke to Betty. "Okay Nana, I'm going to take my hand away, but you have to promise me that you won't say anything else about your personal life. Can you do that?" At Betty's nod, Beck took his hand away, but stayed standing right next to her just in case.

"Jade's right Beck. You're just lucky I'm too happy about your news, or I would've told you exactly who else was with me just now. Since you don't want to hear it though, come on Jade, let's go for a little walk and I'll tell you all about my rendezvous." Betty ended with a large smile, and conspiratorial wink to Jade. The two linked arms and left Beck standing there with his mouth gaping open and chills of revulsion running through him.

/

Fortunately for Jade, (because she liked Betty, but besides the fact that the woman is Beck's grandmother, Jade really did not want to hear about old people hooking up-she only said that she wanted to because it made Beck squirm so much which amused Jade greatly) the two had not gone ten feet before running into Cat and Andre. Andre made his way over to Beck to say his goodbyes and make plans for the following day, while Cat stayed to talk to Jade.

"Hey Jadey, Andre says we have to go back to his parent's house now because everyone else is leaving and we can't miss the boat. You and I are totally going to hang out tomorrow though and go shopping right? Because Andre said that he and Beck are hanging out and I don't want to stay with his parents." Cat had once again showed off her amazing lung capacity by not taking a single breath as she spoke.

After she finished, Cat looked so sad at the prospect of not hanging out with Jade, causing Jade to not hesitate in giving in to the red head's request. Jade had also agreed to Cat's request for selfish reasons, because she really didn't want to hang out by herself with Beck's mom and/or ex-girlfriend, as she knew Beck had other plans already with his dad and/or Andre too. She would never admit it out loud, but Jade was really glad Cat was there with her this weekend. Even though she didn't like lying to the other girl, having her best friend here was going to be life-saving, not just for Jade, but for anyone she might have had murderous thoughts about.

With Jade's agreement, Cat's mood did a 180, and she was Normal Cat once again. "Yay! Ok, so goodbye Jadey! See you tomorrow!" Cat then went to give Jade a hug goodbye, and was surprised when Jade actually allowed it and didn't shove her off right away.

Although she let Cat hug her, (because she was trying not to be 'Good Jade' in order to appease Beck's family) Jade didn't let it last too long. "Yep. Bye Cat."

Jade had stepped out of the hug and was saying goodbye to Andre as he had come back to get Cat after speaking with Beck, when Mary and Violet approached the group, with the latter still looking slightly uncomfortable-which brought great happiness to Jade.

After they finished saying their goodbyes to both Andre and Cat, with Cat and Violet (who was once again her cheerful self, but only because she was speaking with the red head) excitedly talking about hanging out together the next day, (meaning Jade would not be having a good time _at all_) Mary explained the reason she and Violet were there.

"Jade I've been looking for you. Beck you come over here too." Mary didn't even wait for Beck to join the ladies-she walked over to him, grabbed his arm, and dragged him physically into the conversation. "It's getting late and since everyone has pretty much left for the night, I want to show you both where you'll be sleeping."

"Uh mom, I thought I was just gonna sleep in my old room?" Beck's confusion was evident in his voice, along with his raised eyebrows.

"Oh honey that room would barely be big enough for you. Plus, well, we kind of already turned your old room into a storage room for your father's _things_." The way she said 'things' caused Beck to hesitate and close his mouth, deciding he didn't even want to know what his mom was talking about. "Now if you'll both come with us, (indicating herself and Violet) we'll show you to your room." She then turned and led everyone up to the house without waiting for any responses.

Not one to be left behind, Betty decided to tag along with the group and followed behind Mary, Violet, and Beck.

Beck hadn't really been paying attention to his mother's word choice, and simply followed her and his ex-girlfriend, but Jade had caught on to the fact that Mary said _room_, as in _just one_. Her eyes widened to about twice their normal size, but luckily for Jade, she was at the back of the group, and no one saw her slightly panicked expression.

/

"Here you are!" Mary said the words with great enthusiasm, while waving her arm with such a flourish that Beck wondered if she had been a game show assistant in the past and never told him.

"Wow, thanks mom. The guest room looks great!" Beck was either in denial, or it still hadn't registered yet that there was only one bed in the room for both he and Jade.

"Glad you like it. You and Jade should be able to sleep pretty well in here. Remember, of course, that you'll have to close the curtains so it will get dark in here." (**I'm pretty sure it does get dark at night there because they're not in Alaska like the movie, but for this story's sake, we're sticking with the fact that it's sunny pretty much all the time**)

Betty had gone over to one of the closets in the room and pulled out a beautiful handmade quilt. "And here's the blanket my mom gave to me when I got married. It's known in our family as the 'baby-making blanket,' so you two have fun!" Betty spoke in an amused tone, and punctuated her words with another of her conspiratorial winks in Jade's direction.

Jade, not wanting to alienate the only member of Beck's family she actually tolerated, settled for slightly turning up her lips while clenching her jaw tightly. She turned towards Beck so that only he could see the criminal intentions in her eyes.

Beck actually surprised Jade by hiding any shock he was feeling a lot better than she had thought he would, both to his grandmother's words and her own expression. He instead used his quick thinking, and surprised his 'fiancee' once again when he responded to Betty's words with, "Thanks Nana, but Jade and I have decided to wait until we get married before we sleep together."

Violet, who had previously been simply standing in the background, couldn't keep the huge smile off her face at hearing those words. In her mind, she believed that if Beck and Jade weren't sleeping together, she might still have a chance at getting back together with him, because she knew Beck wasn't a virgin, (as she had been his first) and she was fairly certain that Jade wasn't one either.

Jade saw Violet's smile, causing a scowl to appear on her own face, and her eyes to narrow once again with bad thoughts on her mind. Inspiration soon struck however, and walking over to Beck, she wrapped her arm around his waist while saying, "Oh come on _darling_, they don't need to know all our business. Besides, I don't remember agreeing to that." Seeing the confusion on Beck's face, (along with a little lust, but she was the only one who saw it since he was looking directly at her). It took her a minute to collect herself after seeing that look in Beck's eyes, and when she had, she continued with, "I mean, who knows what will happen while we're here? We are on vacation, so anything is fair game." Simply wanting to get back at him for disrupting her, she didn't even think about what she was doing as she gave him a little-longer-than-just-a-peck on the lips, and was proud to discover that her action caused him to become hypnotized with his lips slightly parted, and his eyes unfocused. Of course it wasn't until after she took her lips away that she thought, 'it was just a stage kiss to rattle him, so why the hell does my stomach feel so fluttery?' For the time being, though, she opted to push that thought as far back in her brain as it would go.

As Jade turned back towards the others in the room, she caught sight of the glassy look in Violet's eyes, and sent a smirk her way.

"Aaaaand that would be our cue to leave you two lovebirds alone. Night night!" Leave it to Betty to break up the awkward silence that had followed Jade's words and the kiss. She then proceeded to escort the still stunned Mary and Violet out of the room, with Violet appearing to let a few tears escape before she was able to turn and walk out.

/

As soon as the door shut behind the three women, Jade removed her arm from Beck's waist like she'd been electrocuted. "God, am I good or what?"

For someone so normally well-reserved, Beck seemed to get stunned a heck of a lot whenever he was around Jade. Finally coming out of his latest trance, it took him a minute to register what had just happened. When he did, he couldn't help but reply with, "You're good? Who the hell had to rescue you from my grandma's 'baby-making blanket'?" Somehow, the kiss that Jade had given him hadn't even crossed his mind as he spoke.

Jade was starting to become angry upon hearing Beck's response (his refusal to even acknowledge the kiss just contributed to that anger, but she refused to be the one to bring it up first). "_Rescue_ me? Who the hell are you to decide that I even needed to be 'rescued' huh? I could've handled your grandmother just fine if you'd have let me."

"_Riiiiight_. So you were _handling_ things just fine when you looked at me with that murderous expression on your face like you wanted to kill my grandmother?!" Beck was starting to get worked up himself, as only Jade could make him.

"Oh relax, contrary to what you might think, I actually like your grandma. I would never want to hurt her. I was just upset that they were still in here and I was ready for them all to leave. I didn't really care about what she said" (because it was easier to act pissed off than to give credence to the insinuation that was made-Jade barely acknowledged that she slightly-more-than-tolerated Beck. She absolutely did _not_ want to think about sleeping with him right now. She was currently still trying to process the fact that she had kissed him, and she flat out refused to think about the subconscious reasoning behind that decision instead of just sending him a sexy wink).

"Uh huh..._suuuuure_. You know you're thinking about sharing this big old bed with me." He had gone over and was patting the bed and smiling stupidly as he spoke. He had calmed down with Jade's words, but not because she had told him to do so, but because he could see that she did not fully believe the words that came out of her mouth, whether she realized it right now or not.

"One-quit being sarcastic. That's my thing and it doesn't suit you at all. And two-I don't know what you're thinking, but you're sleeping on the floor and I'm sleeping in that bed all by myself." Jade gave him a self-satisfied smirk as she walked over to him and shoved him off the bed where he had been sitting.

Beck did not want to sleep on the floor, but he also didn't want to fight even more with Jade, because then he might end up sleeping on the couch in the living room, and that would raise questions that he really wasn't wanting to answer. Instead, he huffily took a couple of blankets out of one of the closets and made himself a pallet on the floor.

After the two had gotten ready for bed, (with Jade making Beck use the bathroom down the hall instead of the one in their room) Jade tried to make herself comfortable in the bed while Beck tried not grumble too much about the hard floor. "Aren't you at least going to give me a pillow?" Beck attempted to ask nicely, but couldn't help the slight frustration he was still feeling, while trying to repress the thought of sharing the bed with Jade, and how he wouldn't exactly be opposed to that idea.

"Here." She roughly threw the pillow at him, hitting him in the stomach, and causing a grunt of pain to come from him. "Goodnight. Sleep well _dear_."

Beck had to grudgingly admit (only to himself) that the sarcastic tone did fit Jade's voice much better than his own, but wouldn't give her the satisfaction of a reaction. He just said goodnight while trying to get comfortable, and ignoring the tingling feeling that continued to linger on his lips.

Beck was actually an easy sleeper. It had never taken him long to fall asleep. Five minutes after he shut his eyes, he was on the brink of unconsciousness when Jade's yelling voice pierced the quiet atmosphere of their room.

"BECK! GO CLOSE THE CURTAINS! I CAN'T GET TO SLEEP!"

"Shhhh! You'll wake up the whole house with that tone!" Grumbling under his breath, Beck stood up and closed the curtains. "There. Happy _Your Majesty_?"

"What did I tell you about the sarcasm? And as for waking anybody else, whatever because I don't care." Jade then turned away from the window and after making herself quite comfortable, soon fell fast asleep.

Beck laid back down on his 'bed' and after punching his pillow around and muttering out a "you're welcome," finally fell into a much needed dreamless sleep, with all thoughts of what else could happen this weekend way back in the far recesses in his mind.

**A/N: So there you have it for now. I know the wait was bad, but I hope this chapter was worth it. I am now going to humbly get down on my knees and beg for your forgiveness because you're going to have to wait again (for at least two weeks) before I can get Chapter 10 out. I'm flying back with my sister to Texas because I really need a vacation, and I'm not really going to have time to be working on this story while I'm gone. I totally promise to give you guys a super long chapter when I get back to make up for my absence! For now though, Au revoir my animated anteaters :)**


	10. Chapter 10

**Hey guys! I'm back from my trip and I'm feeling good (except for not being on vacation...lol) and I think you've waited long enough for this chapter. I literally wrote this whenever I had a few spare minutes, and had to wait until I got back before I could type it. I hope it was worth the wait, but I have to warn you that it's not the super long chapter that I had originally promised. There is some stuff in here that does make up for any shortcomings though, so I think it all evens out. You guys are so awesome for sticking with me on this journey and I really don't think I could ever properly thank you enough, but just know that your support on this story has been amazing and it makes me want to continue writing more after this one has reached it's ultimate destination. If anything feels rushed, or there are mistakes in this chapter, I'm apologizing now because I just couldn't wait any longer to give you guys some new stuff.**

**And now you all know what time time is...my favorite and yours...SHOUT OUT TIME!**

**Mahalo nui loa (go Hawaii-even though I've never been there...lol) to: twenty four7bade (for chapter 1), twenty four7bade (for chapter 2), Jayjay1304, xFabinao, Kaylee, Dawnmist of RiverClan, twenty four7bade (for chapter 9), and the Guest review. Also to all the new people who favorited/followed this story, whether you reviewed or not-you guys are just as awesome as reviewers!**

**Ok, time for the serious stuff...the obligatory disclaimer: Contrary to my delusional thinking, I still do own either **_The Proposal _**or**_ Victorious_

**Good thing that's over. Now onto the show!**

**Chapter 10**

The first thing Jade noticed when she woke up, after slightly lifting her head from the pillow to glance around the room, was the fact that she didn't recognize where she was, or in whose bed she was currently laying. Upon processing this fact she immediately thought, 'Oh shit...how much did I drink last night and what the hell was it?' One glance at the blanket that was covering the bed conveniently brought back the memories her subconscious had been attempting to suppress. 'Uggggh God. I'm still in Canada!' Realizing that if she wanted her coffee brought to her, (because really why would she want to get up when she didn't have to?) she'd have to let Beck know she was awake, so she hollered out, (somewhat loudly, but not enough to be heard throughout the whole house) "Beck I'm awake now so go get my coffee-black with two sugars!"

After not getting a response right away, Jade was forced to sit up in bed and see if Beck was either in the shower or dead, because he could not still be sleeping after her demand. When she saw the empty blankets on the floor, and didn't hear the water running in the shower, she vowed that Beck would die a slow and painful death for not being there when she woke up, and for not having her coffee ready when she needed it.

Hating that she would have to get up and get her own coffee now, she left the comfort of the warm bed, and made her way to the kitchen. Jade just hoped that she didn't run into anyone before she got there because she couldn't guarantee that the other person would come out alive, no matter who she happened to come across. Luck happened to be on her side that morning as she made it there free and clear. Her morning actually got more tolerable when she saw that the coffee had already been made and was sitting in the pot just waiting on her to pour it. As she sipped on the calming beverage, Jade noticed that the whole house seemed extra quiet, as if she was the only person there. Because of the quiet, Jade was able to clearly hear her cell phone ringing back in her room.

She tried to get to it before her voicemail picked up, but she wasn't that successful. Recognizing the number as Cat's, Jade rolled her eyes before pressing the button to listen to the message.

"Aww nuts, voicemail. Morning Jadey! Where are you? Why aren't you awake yet?" Andre's voice could then be heard in the background reminding Cat that Jade wasn't currently on the other end of the line and couldn't answer Cat's questions. Undaunted, Cat barreled on with her message. "I'm so excited to hang out with you today! We're gonna have soooo much fun! Ok, I'm gonna finish getting ready now and we'll be there in like an hour. See you soon k?" Mercifully for Jade, Cat didn't wait around for an answer to her last question and the message ended there.

Only thinking about getting coffee earlier, Jade was unsure of the time. Looking at the clock on her phone, Jade saw that it was currently 7 am. Holding back her growl of anger at having woken up too early for her liking for the second day in a row, Jade again wondered where everyone else in the house was currently located, why they were all up and gone at this ungodly hour, and how many ways she would have punished Cat if the red head had actually been the one to wake her up with that phone call.

Barely two seconds after she had those thoughts, she realized that she really didn't care where everyone else was because it meant that she was able to get dressed and ready for her day out with _the girls_ (cue gag and dramatic eye roll) without anyone further annoying her. Pulling out of her suitcase her chosen outfit for the day, (consisting of a pair of black jeans, her usual combat boots, and a slightly off-one-shoulder black shirt-**the outfit she was wearing in **_Tori Gets Stuck_** if you want to look it up**) she laid the clothes out on the bed, then made sure the bedroom door was shut before stripping down and going into the bathroom (shutting that door behind her as well, as an extra precaution) to take her shower.

/

_Two hours ago..._

Growing up with the sun shining practically 24/7, Beck had been used to not getting a lot of sleep, but it was okay because after having done it for so long, it would have been weird for him to sleep past 5 am anyway. Even back in California no matter what time he went to bed, his internal alarm clock would always wake him up by then. Most of the time it was okay because he had to work, but on nights when he would go out after work with his friends or on dates, he wasn't too happy about waking up so early. In order to energize himself and get ready for the day, he would normally pop his earbuds in and listen to his iPod while running an undetermined number of miles-he just ran until he felt like stopping. Being back in Canada made this morning routine easier because he didn't have to worry about getting back in time to get ready for work.

This morning, however, Beck woke up to an unfamiliar feeling. Not to say that he'd never slept on the floor, but it had been so long since that had happened, he'd forgotten how stiff and achy his body felt the morning after. Unlike when Jade had eventually awoken, Beck knew exactly where he was when he opened his eyes and why he was there. His first thought was to make as much noise as possible to wake Jade up so as to pay her back for making him sleep on the floor, (he knew she wouldn't retaliate too badly as long as they still had their deal) but after standing up and looking over at the bed to see her sleeping so angelically, he decided to be courteous and went to the bathroom in order to pop and crack all of his aching joints.

Upon performing his daily pre-jog rituals, (mostly consisting of some weird body stretches) Beck exited the bathroom to see that Jade hadn't moved an inch except to slightly smile in her sleep as if she were having a very pleasant dream. Beck could do nothing but stare at her face as if seeing it for the very first time. Her genuine smiles were so rare, many wondered if they even existed. How ironic, he thought, that during the day Jade's usually the devil incarnate, but when she sleeps, it's the exact opposite. Knowing it was wrong to stare at her like a stalker, and that if caught she would at the very least castrate him, Beck couldn't help himself from reaching his fingers towards Jade's lips to see if they were as soft as they looked.

Just before his fingers made contact, however, Jade emitted a little sigh in her sleep. It wasn't very loud at all, but it might as well have been a fire alarm with the way Beck reacted. All of a sudden it was as if he was just snapped out of a daydream, and seeing where his fingers were, quickly snatched them back while backing away from the bed. He then changed into his sweat pants and a sweatshirt (since it was still cool out) in the bathroom just in case Jade happened to wake up, and grabbed his iPod before bolting out the door to go jogging, while still making sure to shut the door quietly behind him as he left.

As he was grabbing a bottle of water out of the fridge, he heard movement on the stairs and prayed to anyone that would listen that it wouldn't be Jade. Luck also seemed to be on his side that morning, because when he turned around, he saw that it was his mother carrying her chihuahua, Bella (**I know it's not a chihuahua in the movie, but I thought this would be funnier**).

"Morning mom. So I see you still have that yappy little dog huh?" Beck smirked as he asked, but Mary was used to Beck's non-fondness for her dog.

"Yes I still have my Bella-boo. She's really all I have left since you left me." She said it in a teasing fashion, so Beck wasn't bothered by her words.

"Wow, way to throw dad under the bus...haha. Listen mom, I'm going to go out for a run before Andre gets here, so will you please make sure there's some coffee ready for Jade when she wakes up? If it's not there, there won't be a wedding to plan, it'll be a funeral."

"That's what I don't understand Beck. If Jade is so horrible to you and, according to you, most everyone else, why are you marrying her? Is she blackmailing you into it?"

It was way too early for Beck to be interrogated, plus he just really didn't want to answer his mother's questions since the last one hit a little too close for comfort, so instead he said, "Sorry, I've love to stay and chat, but I've gotta run!" And with that, the earbuds were in his ears and he was out the door faster than what Mary thought was humanly possible.

She knew he was trying to put off answering her questions for as long as possible, but it didn't stop her from shouting after him in a slightly amused tone, "We will talk about this later young man!"

/

_Present time..._

By the time Beck got back from his jog, Jade was fully engrossed in the shower, and therefore never heard him re-enter the bedroom. Beck, similarly, was singing along with the latest rock song that was currently blasting through his earbuds, and failed to hear the shower running. He also managed to miss Bella sneaking her way into the room just before he closed the door behind him. Giving the bed a cursory glance to see if Jade was still sleeping, and when he saw that she wasn't in the bed, (once again failing to notice that it was her regular clothes laying there and not her pajamas) he proceeded to go out on the balcony that was attached to the room and enjoy the view for a few minutes before getting in the shower.

While Beck was standing outside gazing into the forest, Jade finished her shower. After pulling back the curtain, one thing became abundantly clear to her-she had forgotten to bring a towel with her into the bathroom. Thinking that it wouldn't be that big of a deal, she walked to the door and cracked it slightly, just in case she wasn't alone in the room anymore. Not seeing anyone in the room, and brushing off the fact that the balcony door was open, (thinking only that perhaps Beck had left it open earlier and she hadn't noticed until just now) she opened the bathroom door all the way and was just about to step towards the closet to get a towel, when Bella appeared in front of her barking like crazy.

Jade, never one to generally be scared of dogs, couldn't help but let out a yelp of slight terror at the little beast in front of her. If she had been thinking normally, she would have once again been plotting the slow and agonizing death of Beck Oliver for not mentioning the fact that there was a dog in the house, but instead all she could currently think about was trying to figure out how she was going to get around the dog to get a towel. Every time she took a step in one direction, the dog would follow and nip at her ankles.

After about the third time it happened, Jade started to get severely pissed off, and goosebumps were beginning to form on her flesh. For a fraction of a second she contemplated drop kicking the dog across the room, but restrained herself, knowing the repercussions wouldn't be worth the satisfaction she'd get from the action. Retreating back into the bathroom, Jade shut the door behind her and looked around for anything she could use to throw into the bedroom and distract the dog. When her eyes landed on the loofa hanging from the shower head she figured that was the best she was going to find. Once again opening the bathroom door, Jade was not surprised to find the little monster still there, and still barking away like mad. Throwing the loofa as far away from the bathroom door, and no where near the closet as possible, Jade again thanked her lucky stars when the dog ran after it.

Meanwhile, Beck having decided that he'd finally had enough of the scenery, took all of his clothes off and left them out there to air out a little before putting them in the laundry hamper. He was still wearing the earbuds, and listening so intently to his music that he did not see Jade making her mad dash out of the bathroom until she literally ran right into him.

Jade had only discovered that she was running into Beck the very second before they collided. Assessing the situation while placing her hand on her pounding head, (from hitting it square on Beck's chest) Jade yelled out, "OW! Damn it Oliver! What are you doing and why _the hell_ are you NAKED?" At the last word, Jade's eyes became as big as saucers and she couldn't help but remember her own state of undress. She quickly covered herself with her hands as best as she could, while making her way to the bed where she yanked the blanket off and properly covered her body.

Beck, having recovered quicker than Jade would have liked, responded with his own, "Why are you all wet?" His question was asked simultaneously with Jade's question regarding his nakedness. By the time Beck had stood up, Jade was already covered with the blanket. Beck himself did not have a problem being naked in front of people, to a certain extent. He knew he was above average in every way, and wasn't embarrassed by his body at all. Plus, if Jade wanted to look, who was he to hide himself and prevent her from doing just that?

Seeing that he was making no effort whatsoever to cover his manhood, and trying to hide the growing redness that fact was bringing to her face, (while telling herself that she was simply still warm from the shower-despite the telltale little bumps on her arms) it took all of Jade's willpower not to look in Beck's direction as she spoke. She kept her eyes trained on the floor in front of her as she said, "I'm wet because I just got out of the shower...idiot, and I forgottotakeatowelinwithmeso Iwascomingoutheretogetone." The second half of her explanation was spoken so fast and low that Beck had to strain just to hear it. Once he processed what Jade had said, it took everything in him not to laugh at her. He knew that no good would come to him if he did.

Biting the inside of his cheek to keep from letting anything slip out, he chose to let Jade off the hook, for now. Grabbing two towels out of the closet, he threw one on the bed next to Jade and said, "Okay, how about this. You stay out here and get ready, and I'll go grab my own shower. Then when I'm done, I'll knock on the bathroom door before I come back out to make sure the coast is clear okay?"

Grateful Beck wasn't going to say anything to further embarrass her at the moment, Jade nodded her head in acknowledgement, and waited to hear Beck actually get in the shower before she decided to get ready.

Beck was standing in the doorway to the bathroom when he turned around to get one last glance of Jade's body (which was admittedly one of the best he'd ever seen-even though he didn't see it for that long). He decided that he couldn't just not say anything, so he called out, "Hey Jade?" Once she brought her head up and her eyes locked on his, he continued with, "Nice tattoo." With a wink and a mischievous smile, Beck walked into the bathroom leaving Jade standing there with bugged out eyes, and her jaw hanging wide open in shock.

**I was originally going to end it here, but to reward all of my wonderful readers, I decided that I owed you guys some more for being so patient. So without further adieu...let's continue!**

/

Usually Cat was early whenever she was supposed to meet someone because she was always extra eager to see that person, but since she and Andre had started dating, she found that he could easily distract her until he made her late. Whenever it came to Jade though, Cat would do everything in her power in order to meet her best friend right on time.

This is why, at precisely 8 o'clock, Cat and Andre, (along with Violet who had shared the boat over) arrived at the Oliver family home and made their way inside with Cat hollering to let Jade know that she was there.

Jade had made the decision that she wasn't going to let what Beck said have any effect on her. Making her way down the stairs with her head held high, she gave Cat the most fake smile she could muster and the five women (Mary and Betty were already in the living room waiting by the time Cat arrived) made their way down to the boat that would take them into town.

Before the girls left, Jade extracted a fraction of her revenge by telling Andre, (with a sly smirk planted firmly on her face) "Beck's waiting upstairs, and he said to tell that you could just go on up."

Beck had still been in the bathroom when he heard Cat originally yelling for Jade. Wondering if she was still in the room, he kept his word and knocked on the bathroom door while calling out her name.

"Yeah I heard her. I'm leaving now so I guess I'll see you later."

Once again not being able to resist teasing her, Beck called back, "Ok. Have fun today _honey_." When all he heard in response was the slamming of the bedroom door, Beck chuckled to himself and made his way into the bedroom to get dressed.

While he was getting his clothes out to get dressed, Beck paused as he remembered the sight of Jade's naked body. Subsequently, remembering that also brought up memories of the way her body had felt for that brief moment that they were pressed together. Beck was a red-blooded male, and it's not like Jade wasn't attractive as hell, (even though her personality usually overshadowed her looks) so when he could feel that his not-so-little _friend_ was getting into the reminiscing as well, he didn't give it a second thought as he dropped his towel and began to take care of things.

Standing just outside the bedroom door, Andre was about to knock when he could hear faint sounds coming from inside. Pressing his ear against the door, Andre did his best to listen to what Beck was mumbling, so he could make sure that his friend wasn't in distress.

"Uhh...unh...ohhh." At first the noises were indistinguishable, but Andre was a smart guy, and he soon recognized the sounds emitting from behind the closed door. Turning away, he was about to walk back down the stairs when one word caused him to freeze in his tracks, "JADE!"

**A/N: Ok, feel free to throw rocks and call me evil now. I'm so sorry that I left you with a cliffhanger, but I had to stop it here so the next chapter will be even better! I promise I'm already working on it, and I will have it to you by next weekend no matter what. For now though, Slán (go Ireland-another place I've never visited) my sassy salamanders! :)**


	11. Chapter 11

**See I told you guys I'd have this up by this weekend...yay me! As you know from previous chapters, I don't talk about any **_Victorious _**episodes in my notes, but I felt TFB&J is just too epic not to be talked about. Plus, I really wanted to get this chapter out before the episode airs tonight because I know how excited everyone is for it. I am one of those people who actually likes things to be spoiled because then I know whether or not I want to watch them, but I knew even before the sneak peeks for this one that I was going to be watching it anyway. I'll actually be watching TFB&J over and over and over and over and over again until they take it off of YouTube...lol. This means that there's probably going to be a delay in getting out the next chapter, but then again it may inspire me to write faster so who knows? We'll just have to wait and see! :D**

**Ok, now who's ready for SHOUT OUT TIME?!**

당신을많이감사**(I hope that's Korean because that's what I want it to be-going Gangnam Style :p) to: ZOMG its Angie, Dawnmist of RiverClan, twenty four7bade, tsttoain, xFabinao, DrizzyJ, Kaylee, and the two Guest reviews :)**

**Once again it's disclaimer time: I did just get a new car so I do own that, but sadly it said nothing about getting ownership rights to either **_The Proposal _**or**_ Victorious_**, so they are still not mine.**

**Now I've stalled long enough...enjoy the latest installment!**

**Chapter 11**

As soon as the last drop of fluid had left Beck's body, he immediately came back to his senses. 'Oh my God...did I just scream out Jade's name? Does that mean that I _like _like her? Oh man, this is so confusing. With his thoughts continuing to run a hundred miles an hour, Beck cleaned himself up with the towel from his shower, and finally got dressed for the day.

Once ready, Beck went to open the bedroom door to meet Andre downstairs. That was the plan at least, but right after he opened the door he saw Andre standing just outside, right at the top of the stairs.

"Oh hey man. What are doing up here? Am I late for something?" Beck wasn't nervous at first, but after hearing the words that came out of Andre's mouth, he began to slightly panic on the inside.

At the sound of the door opening, Andre was finally snapped out of his stupor. He turned around so that he was facing Beck, and answered his friend's questions. "Nah, you're not late. I was just up here because before the girls left Jade told me that you wanted me to come on up and meet you here."

He had thought that he was completely and totally in control of the current situation, but at the mention of Jade's name, Beck began to remember what had just occurred not 5 minutes previously, which caused his slight panic to become a full-blown attack, but it was still on the inside. On the outside he remained calm and collected. Well that's what he tried to do, but it didn't quite turn out as planned.

"Uh...umm...J-jade said that I told her t-to tell you that I wanted you to meet me u-upstairs?" Beck swore at himself mentally. He hated the fact that he was stuttering, and after seeing the growing smirk appearing on Andre's face, he knew that the other man was aware of his panicking, and also probably knew more than was being let on.

Hearing Beck make similar noises at the beginning of the question as were made just a few minutes ago, and knowing that Beck's stuttering was a sure sign that his friend was trying to hide something, Andre decided he was going to use this situation and his knowledge to his advantage, and tease Beck mercilessly for as long as it continued to be amusing to him. Andre figured that meant he would be having fun messing with Beck for the rest of their lives. "Yep. She said that you told her you didn't want to hang out with all the 'hens,' and that it would be okay for us to hang out up here until they left. Really I was just coming to let you know that it was okay to come on down because the girls pretty much left not long after Violet, Cat, and I got here."

The teasing tone in Andre's voice told Beck more than his words did. Beck knew his friend was holding back still, and though he dreaded the answer, he needed to know for his own peace of mind. He was really thankful that his stuttering had stopped. "So, umm how long have you been out in the hall here?" Beck ran his hand through his hair as his asked the question, and knew that Andre would know by that action (if he didn't already) that something was up, but knowing that it was probably just wishful thinking, still prayed that his friend wouldn't pry too much into the situation.

Andre couldn't contain his laughter any longer after seeing the discomfort that was being shown on Beck's normally stoic face. Once he composed himself, he gestured for Beck to retreat back into the bedroom so they could speak privately.

"What? Why do we have to go in there? Why can't we just talk out here? Is there someone still in the house?" Beck once again ran his hand through his hair, but this time let out a huge sigh as well. He knew that any remaining doubts Andre might have had about Beck hiding something were complete erased with his multitude of questions. Plus the panic he was trying to contain inside, now making itself verbally known, didn't help.

"Haha. Dude you're starting to sound like Cat now with all those questions. First, no there's no one else in the house as far as I know, but your dad may come back in at any minute and I'm sure you don't want him to overhear anything we talk about. Second, I was going to ask you if there's something you want to tell me, but then I decided that I'm not going to give you a chance to back out. You _will_ explain to me why I just heard a certain name being called out, when I know for a fact that person is _nowhere_ near that room, before you opened that door because I _know_ what I heard man, and I'm not just talking about the actual word." Andre raised his eyebrows up and down repeatedly as he spoke, indicating to Beck he knew exactly what went on before the door opened.

Resigning himself to the fact that he wasn't going to get out of the oncoming conversation, Beck heaved another sigh while turning and heading back into the bedroom followed by a grinning-like-an-idiot Andre.

/

As if it wasn't bad enough that Jade had to be in a boat at all, let alone for another 15 of the longest minutes of her life, right after she sat down Cat had taken the seat next to her, and wouldn't quit bouncing around and talking her ear off for almost the entire trip.

"Did you know that there's a leaf on Canada's flag? Andre says that it's a maple leaf, but I don't believe him because maple only comes in syrup, not leaves. Also, I heard that there are moose in Canada. Have you ever seen a moose Jadey? What if I see more than one? Would they be mooses? That sounds funny...mooses...hehe." Cat was twirling her hair and giggling as she spoke to Jade, but the dark haired woman never once looked in her direction.

It was after Cat told Jade that she learned something about some woman named Niagara and her maid falling into some mist when Jade couldn't take it anymore and finally snapped. "Cat! You know I hate Canada and basically everything to do with this country, so go bug someone else with your inane questions and stories because I JUST DON'T CARE!"

Bottom lip trembling and tears coming into her eyes, Cat could do nothing but reply with, "Harsh. F-fine. I'll j-just g-go over and sit n-next to my n-new best f-friend V-violet." Cat then got up, and somehow managed to make her way to the back of the boat where Violet was sitting, without any complications.

Jade immediately felt bad as soon as the words left her mouth, but not enough to get up and apologize to Cat right away. She was staying in her seat until the boat was docked and she was once again on solid ground.

As soon as the engine cut off, Jade was out of the boat and up the ladder before anyone even realized that she'd moved. Tapping her foot impatiently and taking deep breaths in an attempt to calm her heart rate back to a normal level after the boat ride, Jade waited until everyone else joined her before the group set off into town to go shopping, with Cat ignoring her to walk with Violet, leaving Jade to lag a few steps behind everyone else.

/

As soon as the door shut behind him, Andre wasted no time getting the conversation started. "Ok man spill." Realizing the word that just came out of his mouth, Andre corrected himself with a laugh. "On second thought, given your recent activities, I think enough has already spilled out of you."

And just like that, Beck's nerves completely flew out the window and he remembered exactly with whom he was speaking. "Oh ha ha ha dude. You're so hysterical. I mean really, you should totally be a stand-up comedian."

"You know it doesn't matter what you tell me because I'm going to give you hell about it for the rest of our lives. Now, no more stalling. Please tell me why in the world you were shouting out _Jade's_ name during _that time_."

"Well...you see...umm...the truth is...something happened, actually a couple of somethings, and I uh think I might...kinda...maybe...havefeelingsforher." The last part was jumbled together and Andre had to learn closer to Beck in order to make sure he heard the words clearly.

"Wait, what? Did you just say something about having _feelings_ for Jade? You mean as in other than the normal fear, worthlessness, and helplessness she instills into the hearts of everyone she meets? Not to mention the loathing and hatred that comes once you really get to know her?" Andre was sure he misunderstood his friend the first time.

"Look man, I know it makes zero sense whatsoever, but I know that ever since we've been here things have happened, and I can't really define what I'm feeling towards her right now. I know that I don't exactly want her to trip over a cord and knock herself unconsciousness anymore." A sardonic laugh accompanied Beck's words. He let out a long sigh as he sat on the bed.

With Andre now replacing Beck as the one pacing back and forth across the room to the bathroom door, (he had refused to sit on the bed, so he had previously just been standing by it's side) Andre took pity on his friend and reserved the rest of his teasing for a later time. "Okay, let's just think about this logically. You think that you might have _friendly_ (he shuddered as the word came out of his mouth) feelings for Jade. Are you sure it's not just because you guys are pretending to be engaged?"

"To be honest, I don't know. I mean she did kiss me last night, b-" Beck was going to continue, but was interrupted by his friend.

"Wait, wait, wait. She KISSED you? Why am I JUST NOW hearing about this? Where did it happen? Was anyone else around? Did anything else happen?" Andre finally took a breath in the midst of his line of questioning, and Beck took the chance to jump back into the conversation with some teasing.

"Now who's starting to sound like Cat huh?...haha. To answer the questions you've asked so far, yes she kissed me, we've only been talking for like 5 minutes and it never came up until now, on the lips here in the bedroom, my mom, Nana, and Violet all witnessed it, and no nothing else happened. Now I know you've probably still got tons more questions to ask, but can we please just take them one at a time? I promise I'll answer each one of them to the best of my ability."

"Okay, sure. Uh, let me see...got it!" The last part was accompanied by a snap of the fingers. "So you said that your mom, Nana, and Violet were all here when you and Jade kissed right?"

"Yeah, mom wanted to show me and Jade where we'd be sleeping while we're here, and everyone else just decided to tag along."

"Well then how did you end up kissing while they were still here if all they were doing was showing you guys the room?" For the life of him, Andre couldn't figure out any possible way Beck and Jade could wind up in that situation.

"I have absolutely no idea how things led up to that. One minute my grandma was talking about her 'baby-making' blanket, and then the next thing I know Jade's arms are wrapped around my waist and she's got this look in her eye that I swear was like nothing I've ever seen on any woman before, let alone Jade. I can't even explain it-it was just..." As Beck got lost in thought remembering what he had seen in Jade's eyes, Andre saw a look come upon his best friend's face that he was sure he didn't want to witness ever again. Beck's own eyes were becoming glassy, and his mouth had dropped open slightly.

Walking over to the bed, Andre snapped his fingers right in Beck's face. "Hello?! Earth to Beck! Can you _please_ snap out of wherever you are, wipe that look off your face, and finish the story?"

"Huh...what?" Realizing where his thoughts had taken him, Beck felt a very faint blush rise up on his face. "Oh, sorry man. Where was I?"

"Apparently still hypnotized by the devil...haha." Andre couldn't resist. Although, in all fairness, he had warned Beck that the teasing wouldn't stop, so he really didn't feel too bad about the comment.

"Yeah yeah. Okay, so we were standing there and I told Nana that Jade and I weren't going to sleep together until we were married, and then I don't know what happened, but suddenly Jade's arms were around me and she was saying how she didn't remember agreeing to that deal. Then, before I knew it, she was kissing me. I'm not gonna lie and say I didn't enjoy it because she's a very attractive woman, when words aren't coming out of her mouth, but I really didn't even get a chance to kiss her back because it was over as quickly as it started. Of course, it didn't stop me from feeling something...if you know what I mean." Beck's own eyebrow raise as he spoke his last words let Andre know what was meant.

After recovering from another round of shuddering, Andre was able to speak again. "Trust me man, I know _exactly_ what you were feeling. I still don't quite understand why those feelings are for _Jade _even if she is a good looking woman-please don't tell anyone I admitted that, but I've honestly never seen two more opposite people in my whole life, so maybe you'll prove the cliche to be correct."

"Yeah, that's not gonna happen. I don't think Jade's feelings towards me have changed at all. She's just a really great actress, and this whole thing is just one big role that she has to play. Oh, and don't worry, I won't say a word to anybody." Beck, finally having run out of steam from recalling the previous night's events, heaved a dejected sigh and flopped back to lay fully on the bed.

"Wow...you have like genuine feelings for her don't you?" After receiving an affirmative nod from Beck, Andre continued. "Well I'm not going to stop teasing you about it, but as your best friend, I will try and be supportive. And, on that note, I say we use this weekend to do some detective work and discover if Jade is just acting out a part, or if there's something real there."

With Andre's words, Beck actually stood up from the bed and got a hopeful look on his face. "Thanks Dre. It's good to know I can always count on you to be there for me no matter what." He walked over to Andre and gave the dread-locked man a handshake/one-armed manly hug/pat on the back.

"Always bro. Now I don't know about you, but I need to get out of here before this conversation starts getting too mushy and we turn into chicks."

Laughing heartily, both guys made their way out of the room, and then out of the house.

/

The girls had been shopping for 3 hours and 48 minutes, (and 23...24...25 seconds-she'd started counting as soon as they'd walked away from the boat) and Jade had only one thing on her mind. 'Honestly, this town only has like 2,000 people so how many stores can there be for shopping?' She took a seat on a bench just outside the latest store the rest of the women had gone into, and was about 2 seconds away from murdering the next person who happened to unfortunately cross her path.

She'd finally cornered Cat about 10 minutes into their first store, and after giving the red headed girl her own version of an apology, (which consisted of Jade saying, "Sorry about what I said back on the boat. Here's some cereal just for you." And Cat's extremely enthusiastic, "I forgive you Jadey...oooh cereal. I LOVE CEREAL!") Cat proceeded to cling to Jade's side wherever they went.

Jade was pulled out of her not-so-legal thoughts by a man, who seemed to be homeless, sitting down on the other side of the bench (too close to Jade as far as she was concerned, but still well within striking distance for her scissors to do serious damage). His hairline appeared to have receded about twenty years ago, his clothes were so mismatched and looked like they came from someone's dumpster, he wasn't wearing any shoes, and as if the sight of him alone wasn't strange enough, he was drinking, through a straw, milk directly from a coconut.

Just as Jade was reaching for the scissors she kept at all times in her boot, (because the coconut slurping had finally caused her to snap) the man stopped and spoke to her.

"Why hello there. You don't look familiar. Did you just move here or are you simply visiting our fine piece of land?" He had turned to look at Jade as he spoke, and it took everything in her power to pull her hand back up her side, and place it on the bench next to her...almost splintering the wood with her grip.

After hearing stories from Mary, Betty, and Violet for the past 3 hours and now 50 minutes, Jade knew how small of a town Irricana really was, and just how important Beck's family was to the town. People had been stopping the women everywhere they went in order to talk to Mary or Betty or Violet, and Cat, being the most energetic and bubbliest one of the whole group, had no problems joining the conversations with random people for as long as the rest would allow her to talk. Jade was mostly saved from these pop up conversations by either excusing herself to the bathroom, or the fitting rooms.

Based on the 'homeless' man's question, Jade knew the man had lived here for quite some time, so in order to avoid any negative opinions being made about the Oliver women, (although she really didn't care personally, she just knew how badly it would hurt Beck if anything was said about his mom and grandma because of her) she put on her best acting face, and told the man, "I'm just visiting. I'm waiting on the rest of the group (she absolutely refused to call them her friends because Cat was the only one to whom that term could apply) to come out of that store (she pointed to the one behind the bench) so we can go eat lunch."

Thankfully Jade was saved from any further conversation as she heard Cat's voice behind her, talking animatedly to Violet. Jade turned her head in their direction and saw both girls with their arms full of bags, with Cat struggling to carry them all. Jade groaned loudly as she knew she'd get stuck helping Cat carry the bags to however many more places they were going until eventually making their way back to the Oliver's home.

Mary and Betty came out slightly behind the younger women, and recognizing the man sitting near Jade, Betty greeted him. "Erwin! It's nice to see you again. How are the coconuts tasting?"

Jade let out a snort upon hearing the man's name, but nonetheless got up to join Cat and Violet because she really didn't want to hear anything _Erwin_ had to say about his coconuts.

The three younger ladies were soon joined by Mary as she also didn't want to be a part of her mother-in-law's conversation with Erwin Sikowitz.

"Ah the always youthful-looking Oliver women. It's wonderful to see you again as well...even though we just saw each other yesterday. As for my little beauty here, she is as delicious as ever. The visions this one gives me are even more vivid than usual." He started to get that faraway look in his eye, as if having a vision currently.

Clapping her hands to regain his attention, Betty continued the conversation. "Lovely to hear that dear. So tell me, what are you doing out around town today?"

"Actually I was on my way to work when I happened to spot this comfortable looking bench just begging for me to sit on, and a woman as pretty as that dark haired young lady should never be sitting alone, so I had to join her."

Knowing he was talking about Jade, Betty was surprised word hadn't already spread to him regarding Jade's identity. "Actually Erwin, that's Beck's fiancee." Saying the word trigged an idea in Betty's head, but she'd have to run it by the rest of the group first. After exchanging with Erwin a speedy, but still polite goodbye, Betty went to rejoin the group.

"Ladies I just had a wonderful idea!"

"Does it involve food? Because I'm starved!" Jade's patience was was running thin.

"Actually yes Jade, it does. How about we head on over to _Ramone's_ (**I don't know if the bar had a name or not, but we're just gonna go with Sikowitz's character's name in the movie**) and have some food and watch a show?" She was smiling as she spoke and had looked mischievously, but discreetly at Jade.

Jade agreed because she just wanted some food, and Cat said yes because she just wanted to agree with what Jade said.

Contrary to what Betty had thought, both Mary and Violet had seen the way Betty had looked at Jade, but surprisingly, they didn't have any objections to the destination. So, after a 5 minute detour which Jade did not object to, (only because it was to drop the bags off back at the boat since they were so close to it) the five women made their way to _Ramone's_.

**A/N: Guess what? This is the second longest chapter in the whole story...yay! Okay, that's all I really have to say for now. Hopefully this will help you guys pass the time until TFB&J airs in several hours! Until next time, it's Cheerio my cheeky chipmunks :)**


	12. Chapter 12

**Watch out now...another chapter up in about a week? Go me and my speedy fingers! Life was actually not as crazy as I had anticipated it was going to be last week, so I was able to write more often. I know the anticipation was pretty big for this chapter, so I hope i did it justice! Surprisingly, I have nothing else to say for the moment, moving on to the next item on our agenda:**

**SHOUT OUT TIME! :)**

**Asante sana (it's time for some Swahili) to: ZOMG its Angie, DrizzyJ, Dawnmist of RiverClan, Kaylee, twenty four7bade, xFabinao, and Victoriousjadefan.**

**I again want to say thank you to any new followers and favorites for this story. You guys make me glad I decided to get into this fanfic business.**

**Disclaimer: Ok, so I was just informed that writing fanfiction is not an actual business and I am not going to be receiving a check in the mail for it. It is with great disappointment that I inform you I do not own either **_The Proposal _**or**_ Victorious_**.**

**Side note: This chapter is the longest so far-by like 500 words-and I didn't take two weeks to get it up. How awesome is that? :D**

**Now that all that mess has been cleared up, enjoy the show!**

**Chapter 12**

Jade thought she knew what she was getting into before they walked through the doors of the bar because she could hear the music from outside with the doors shut, but absolutely nothing could have prepared her for what she experienced after stepping inside.

The place was full of women of all ages, either seated at the bar or at tables that were located all around what appeared to be a stage of some sort. Jade became suspicious when she didn't see any males around, but was soon distracted, along with the rest of her group, when they were seated at a table and given menus. She was once again temporarily made aware of her surroundings when she heard Betty's question to their waitress.

"So Erica, when does the next show start?"

"Well we just had our first one for the day end about 10 minutes ago, and then next one is scheduled to start in about an hour and a half." Erica then left to go get the women's drinks.

Betty became even more excited after hearing that news, if that was at all possible. "Oh that's perfect! We'll have plenty of time to eat and then get settled in to watch the show."

"Show? What kind of show are you talking about?" Jade had tried to interrupt because from everyone's reactions, this 'show' seemed to be pretty big around town, but her question went ignored by the three local women, and Cat was too busy laughing at some of the names of the food items on the menu to even hear the question.

"Look Jade! They have 'drunk chicken'! Have you ever seen a chicken get drunk before?...hehe. Oh and look here! There's a toad in the hole! That doesn't sound like food at all. Do you think it means there are toads hidden out back in little holes, and they just pull them out and give them to you when you order that?...haha."

Since no one was answering Jade, she spared Cat a second of her time. "No Cat, I don't think they eat toads here. How about you order it though and see what you get?"

"Umm...I think I'll just get a hamburger instead." Cat didn't want to take the chance that she would get an actual toad, so she decided to just stick with something from the menu that she actually recognized.

"You better make sure they actually serve you meat from a cow because you know they eat moose and deer here right?" Jade couldn't resist teasing Cat since everyone else at the table was still ignoring her repeated inquiries regarding the show that was about to occur.

A sharp intake of breath was Cat's first response, along with her eyes becoming huge, indicating that she hadn't even thought of that as an option. "They actually eat _moose and deer _(the words were whispered) here? What about their antlers? That's so mean!" With a defeated look on her face, Cat finished with, "I've decided that I'm just gonna have a salad then."

Jade had another retort ready on the tip of her tongue about how people eat deer in America, but was interrupted by their waitress before the words could leave her lips.

"Ok ladies here are your drinks. Is everyone ready to order?"

/

An hour later, belly full and feeling content for the moment, Jade announced to anyone at the table who was listening, that she was going outside to get some fresh air.

"Would you mind some company? I feel like getting some fresh air myself." Violet didn't particularly want to hang out alone with Jade, but she figured this was the perfect opportunity to get the dark haired girl alone, and subtly inquire about the girl's relationship with Beck. Plus, she also wanted to leave while Cat was happily distracted with trying to pick out songs from the jukebox in the corner.

Knowing there was no way she could decline the offer without it seeming incredibly rude and weird to say that she wanted to just be by herself, (since she had sat outside most of the stores alone earlier waiting on everyone else to finish shopping) Jade accepted Violet's offer and the two stood up to make their way outside.

"Oh Violet?" Both girls paused, but only Violet turned back around at the sound of Betty's voice. "Just make sure you guys are back inside in time for the next show okay?"

Not knowing why it was so important that she be there for the stupid show that everyone couldn't stop talking about, but also not really caring too much at the moment, Jade continued walking towards the exit while Violet stayed behind for a second to acknowledge Betty's words.

"Why does it matter if we make it back in time for the start of the show? I mean, no offense Mrs. Oliver, but everyone in town has seen it at least ten times, and I personally don't really think it isn't anything that can't be missed."

"Yes dear I know you and the rest of us have already seen it, but Jade and Cat haven't yet since this is their first time visiting our lovely town and I believe they need to experience everything Irricana has to offer. Not only that, but seeing as how Jade and Beck are engaged, I think it's time we start treating Jade like the bride-to-be she is, and celebrate accordingly." Betty had a thing for conspiratorial winks, and after giving Violet another one to punctuate her statement, she watched as recognition fell upon the blonde's face before the younger girl turned around and headed outside to meet Jade.

/

"Man I am so bored! Is it time for lunch yet? How long have we been out here doing this? My arms are killing me!" Andre knew realistically it probably hadn't been that long since he and Beck had entered the woods and started collecting the firewood that Craig had asked them to get, but to him it had felt as if they had been out there for hours.

Beck, used to doing chores like this for years, wasn't as bothered by the rate at which the time was passing as Andre was, but to appease his friend he looked at his watch and calculated the time. "Um it's been like 23 minutes. We've barely collected anything, and I'm the one actually pushing the wheelbarrow so what are you complaining about? If you want to switch though, to add some fun to your day, I'd be more than happy to let you push this thing. You know we can't stop until we have at least a full barrow or else my dad will just make us collect twice as much later."

"Well I would trade you just to give me something else to do, but those biceps look like they could use some work, plus I think we've both already have plenty of fun and excitement today...haha." Andre never could resist getting any kind of dig in at Beck's expense. Andre's eyes grew wide as he spotted something on the ground not far from him. "Oh look! Here's one that looks like it just can't wait to be added to the pile." Andre walked over to the biggest log he had seen so far, and after picking it up, he decided that it had to weigh at least 30 pounds. He had some difficulty getting it to actually stay in the wheelbarrow, but once it was finally situated, he gave Beck a proud smirk.

"Gee thanks so much _pal_." Beck then proceeded to push the barrow forward while keeping his grunting to a minimum, surprising Andre.

Never one to let the quiet last for too long, (because in his experience, conversation always made the time go by faster) five minutes later Andre decided that now was as good a time as any to work on making plans for discovering Jade's true feelings. "Speaking of our friendship, I say we start working on making some plans to discover Jade's true feelings about you. What do you think about involving Cat in this operation?" Andre knew it was a risk, but he felt that Cat could really help the guys since she was the closest person to Jade.

After taking about 0.2 seconds to think it over Beck replied with, "Sorry man. I know she's your girlfriend and all, but I think if we tell her anything Jade will find out not long after, and then the whole thing will be comprised."

Wanting to protest about having to keep yet another secret from his girlfriend, Andre opened his mouth, but then just as quickly shut it again. "Ugh! You know I _really_ hate keeping secrets from her. She always finds a way to get information out of me one way or another. I can't resist her because she's just so cute and innocent...okay maybe not so innocent."

Both guys let out laughs at the end of Andre's statement. After calming back down, Beck spoke again.

"I know you do 'Dre, but you know that I wouldn't ask you to keep any secrets unless it was incredibly important. If Jade were to find out that we were up to something she'd either get super pissed off and at the very least fire us both, or she'd mess with our heads by putting on an act and we'd never know the truth. We need to figure things out on our own."

Sighing in resignation, Andre nodded his head. "Yeah, you're right. Okay, I won't say anything about it to Cat. Speaking of the girls, do you know when they're supposed to get back?"

"No idea. Mom didn't say how long they were gonna be gone when I spoke to her this morning, but they'll have to come back sometime soon if they want to get ready for Nana's birthday dinner tonight. Speaking of, let's hurry up and collect some more logs so we can go back and get ready ourselves."

"Dude WE'RE NOT GIRLS! It doesn't take us hours to get ready! Or at least it doesn't take me that long." Andre spoke the last part quietly while snickering under his breath and turning to face away from Beck.

Contrary to what Andre thought, Beck actually did hear Andre's last statement. "Yeah, yeah. Make fun of me all you want. I'll have you know that looking this good is a process. I'd say given my current situation, this process is gonna be more important than ever, and I definitely need all the extra time I can get."

"Uh huh. Whatever you say 'Fabio' (cue another teasing chuckle)." After 6 minutes of silence, (a new record for Andre) he spoke up again. "So I wonder what the girls are up to right now?"

/

"Okay look, you don't really know me that well, and I'm pretty sure you want to get to know me about as much as I want to get to know you, so why did you really ask to come out here with me?" Jade knew something was up when Violet asked to join her, and wasted no time getting right to the point.

Looking slightly amused, Violet addressed Jade's bluntness. "You're right. I don't know you at all, but you're wrong about the fact that I don't want to get to know you. Look, just because Beck and I used to date doesn't mean that we're not still friends now, or that I'm not concerned about who's currently in his life. It's been at least 3 years since I've last seen him, and from the looks of it, a lot has changed in that time." She knew that she'd have to play nice if she wanted Jade to divulge anything, but apparently she had underestimated with whom she was speaking.

"Yeah, I'm not telling you anything about me or my personal life with Beck until you tell me about yours. For instance, how long did you guys date and why did you break up?" Jade really didn't want to hear anything about Beck's past with the blonde, but she was a smart woman, and figured there was a chance that she might learn some blackmail material by hearing the full story.

Violet didn't want to discuss her and Beck's past with his current fiancee, but she knew if she didn't say anything, Jade wouldn't either, so reluctantly she began telling her story.

"Beck and I were high school sweethearts. We had known each other pretty much all our lives since we were both born and raised here, and Irricana isn't exactly that big of a town, but somehow we stayed just friends until high school. We both dated other people off and on before that, but managed to find ourselves both single at the same time freshman year. Beck asked me to the Homecoming dance that year, and by the end of the night, we were a couple. Everyone kept telling us how perfect we looked together and how they all knew that we'd get married someday and raise our own family here."

Both she and Jade were leaning on the railing staring out into the water as the story was being told, therefore Violet missed the unexplainable emotion that flitted across Jade's face as she described her former relationship with Beck.

Since she didn't see Jade's reaction, Violet never skipped a beat as she continued telling her story. "Well lo and behold, they were partially right, to an extent. The day we graduated high school Beck proposed to me. I accepted of course because I genuinely thought we were going to be together forever." After she said this, Violet paused for a moment because she thought she heard Jade inhale sharply. She took her gaze off the water and turned to look over at Jade.

Jade was completely surprised by this new turn of events as she had never realized exactly how close Beck and Violet used to be. She didn't even realize that she had made any noise. That weird feeling was starting to bubble in her stomach, but unlike before when she was around Beck and it was something good but undefinable, she recognized this new feeling for what it truly was-jealousy. She was jealous of the relationship Violet and Beck had shared in the past. Shaking the emotion off quickly so hopefully Violet wouldn't see it, Jade gestured for the other girl to continue.

Smiling inwardly at seeing Jade's reaction, for she actually had seen the emotions swirling in Jade's eyes, Violet picked up her story where she had left off. "Well it turns out that forever only lasted throughout college. We knew we didn't want to get married while either one of us was still in school, so we decided to just have a long engagement and make plans after graduation. Those four years changed us though, and instead of growing together, we began to drift apart. While in school Beck discovered his love for acting. After college graduation he decided that he wanted to move to Hollywood in order to try and make it big. He asked me to move with him, saying we would get married here first then start our new lives there, but I liked the small town way of life and I didn't want to leave it. Instead of trying to make a long distance relationship work, we decided to take a break and see what the future would hold for us. Apparently, it brought you into his life and his heart."

At Violet's words, the butterflies in Jade's stomach began fluttering again. The jealousy though had been replaced by the feeling that she only got when she thought about Beck and the most recent situations in which they found themselves. After hearing all about Beck's past with Violet, Jade thought that she would dislike the blonde even further, but it turned out just the opposite. She actually felt sorry for the other girl, but not enough to want to be friends with her-she was still Jade West after all, and not just anyone was allowed the privilege of her friendship.

Surprisingly, telling Jade her story had lifted some of the pain and heartbreak the break-up with Beck had caused Violet. The catharsis brought from getting everything out in the open was enough for Violet to realize that she really did just want Beck to be happy, and if Jade was the one who gave him that feeling, who was she to stand in the way? Of course, just because she was learning to accept it, didn't mean that she had to like the situation. Still curious as to Jade and Beck's past, however, Violet asked Jade, "So, how did you and Beck meet?"

After hearing Violet's story Jade decided that she didn't want to tell Beck's ex-fiancee anything at all about her own past with him. Opening her mouth to say just that, Jade happened to take a glance at the watch adorning Violet's wrist that was still resting on the railing. Emitting a fake gasp, Jade sarcastically said instead, "Oh well you look at that-all out of time. Whoops. Guess we should be getting back in there before Betty sends someone out to get us for this _oh so important_ show that's about to happen." With those parting words Jade turned on her heel and strode back into the building.

Violet was about to say something along the lines of the fact that they actually still had a couple of minutes before the show was scheduled to start, but then she remembered what Betty had told her about celebrating Jade's bride-to-be status, so she closed her mouth and followed after Jade with a gleam in her eye.

/

Jade had just sat down at their table, and was given the beer she had ordered, when Cat finally came back.

"Hey hey, guess what Jade? I picked a song from the jukebox! Isn't that neat?" Cat was looking so proud of herself, and was bouncing so excitedly in her seat, that Jade just couldn't find anything bad to say to her.

"That's great Cat. What song did you pick out?"

"Ooh ooh ooh! It's called...um...oh shoot I forgot the name of it!" Cat then started to pout, and was about to cry, but was interrupted my the bar's emcee.

"Alright alright alright. Who's up for a little song-y song action this afternoon?" After pausing to accept the round of screams and applause, as well as an unnoticed eye roll from Jade, he continued. "Now I'm sure most, if not all of you, know our next performer, but what you guys probably don't know, is that this show is going to be a little different from the normal one. In case you haven't noticed, the lovely Oliver family ladies have decided to join us today, accompanied by the also beautiful Miss Violet LeBlanc, as well as two other gorgeous young women, one of whom happens to be getting ready to join the Oliver family. Miss Jade West, if you will please step up here and join me?"

Upon hearing her name, Jade adopted a deer-in-the-headlights look, and promptly did a Grade A spit take with her beer. Shaking her head 'No' repeatedly, Jade grabbed ahold of the sides of her chair, and adamantly refused to let go. Finally though, after 45 seconds of nonstop pestering and chants of 'Go go go!' from both the women at her table, as well as everyone else in the bar, Jade violently grabbed her bottle of beer and stomped her way up to the stage with a murderous look on her face that, thankfully for her, went unnoticed by anyone she knew.

Not missing a beat, the emcee continued as if that whole scene never occurred. "Miss West, it has come to my attention that you are the woman who has stolen the heart of our beloved Beck Oliver, and will be marrying him soon correct?"

Those who had not been at the party the previous night, or hadn't heard about it from someone who was, began to boo and/or cry at the revelation. Jade stood up on the stage stonily, and forced a 'Yes' out of her lips.

"As such, your future grandmother-in-law has informed me that this outing is to be a celebration of that fact." He glanced over at Betty as he spoke, and traded winks with the woman.

Jade raised a curious eyebrow in Betty's direction, for she knew nothing good was going to come next, and she was unfortunately proven right by the smile on Betty's face, as well as the emcee's next words.

"Since this is your bachelorette party Miss West, please take a seat while we bring out your entertainment."

Knowing there was absolutely no way she was going to get out of whatever 'entertainment' was going to come, Jade reluctantly sat down in the chair in the middle of the stage, while Cat and Violet came up to her placing a tiara on her head, along with a sash stating that she was the bride.

"Aww you look so cute Jadey! I want to be a bride too!" Cat tried to pull another chair onto the stage for herself, but before she could grab one, she was led by the arm back to the table by Violet.

Jade began to look around uncertainly when she first heard the music coming out of the speakers. When she heard the audience cheer wildly along with a few cat calls, she turned her head in the direction everyone was looking, and when she saw exactly who it was that had come out from behind the curtain, she couldn't help scream that tore through her throat.

(**Once again I was going to leave you with a cliffhanger, but I'm still on such a high from TFB&J-even though everything was pretty much spoiled beforehand-that I decided I couldn't do that to you guys again, so here you go...enjoy the rest of the show!**)

The clothes were different, as he now had on a fireman suit, but there was no mistaking the fact that Jade's 'entertainment' for the afternoon was the man who had dared to sit next to her while she was waiting on the bench out in front of the last store while the others were still shopping. She can't exactly remember his name-something with an 'E'...Edmund, Edward, Ernie, but Betty's shout of, "Woo hoo, go Erwin!" quickly remedied that fact.

Luckily for Jade, the scream that came out of her mouth was mixed in with the loud music, as well as other women's screams (although theirs were of a more enjoyable nature than Jade's had been). She quickly downed the rest of her drink as fast as she could swallow, and begged someone to get her some liquor, pronto.

Jade was not a lightweight by any means, but there was something different about the Canadian beer she had drank, that caused her body to relax and not even mind the fact that there was a weird older, balding, coconut-scented man dancing around her while trying to strip off his fireman's outfit in a sexy manner.

By the time he was in just a speedo and his helmet, (Jade couldn't even bring herself to shudder at the sight because someone had finally brought her some vodka which, when mixed with the beer still in her system, mellowed her out significantly) Erwin stood in front of Jade and began giving her a lap dance. Jade really wasn't as drunk as she was pretending to be, and she allowed the action to occur since it was bringing everyone else so much enjoyment. She finally decided to get in on the act near the end, and stood up while motioning to Cat to join her on stage. For the rest of the song, Jade, Cat, and Erwin all danced together doing random dances while simply having some much needed fun (at least in Jade's case).

After the song was over, Cat and Jade (after shouting 'NO!'-albeit not as harshly as she'd done in the past-to Erwin's request for a hug) made their way back to their table.

"Well wasn't that just superbly exciting?" Leave it to Betty to begin a conversation.

"Yeah I had so much fun dancing with Jadey and the fireman!" Cat spoke as she danced her way around the table.

"It was alright." Jade admitted reluctantly. She didn't want to give anyone any indication that she was actually beginning to have some fun in Canada, but after making eye contact with Betty, she knew the older woman was starting to see differently.

"Sikowitz sure knows how to put on a good show doesn't he?" Violet was just glad that it was Jade up on stage and not herself. She was highly amused at Jade's uncomfortableness, but then became a little disappointed when Jade began to relax and have some fun.

"Wait, wait, wait. His last name is _Sikowitz? _As in _psycho-witz?_" At Betty, Mary, and Violet's confirming nods, Jade couldn't help the roars of laughter that escaped her. "Th-that e-explains so m-much!...hahahahaha." It was almost five minutes later when Jade was able to finally regulate her breathing.

Mary, who up until that point had been relatively quiet, finally spoke up. "Ladies, I hate to break up this little party, but we must be getting home now so we can get ready for mom's dinner tonight."

Heaving a resigned sigh, Betty acquiesced. "She's right girls. Let's go home since the show's over."

Upon getting themselves collected and corralling Cat, the four women (after saying goodbye to Violet since she was staying behind because she lived on the mainland, and would meet them at the restaurant later) made their way to the boat and then the Oliver home.

**A/N: Ok, so that's all we've got for now. I hope I didn't disappoint anyone's expectations with this chapter. I can't give all my secrets away at one time-got to save some surprises for future chapters ;). Until next time though, Farvel (yay for any Danish speaking fans I may have) my feisty flamingos :D**


	13. Chapter 13

**Oh my gosh you guys...I am so sorry for making you wait longer than usual for this chapter! Life had a crazy way of interfering with my writing time. I won't go into all the details, but I was in Texas helping my sister with her baby for a while. Then two days after Christmas the very first friend I ever had was killed unexpectedly in a car accident. Honestly, reading stories on here is about the only thing that can do lately-I love having an iPhone. Somehow I have been able to find a little time to write enough for a chapter, but I am making no promises as to its quality. If it's bad, I totally promise to make it up to you guys next time! I can't be sure when I'll get the Chapter 14 out, but I will try super hard to not make you wait as long! **

**Moving along to some good stuff...it's SHOUT OUT TIME!**

**Paljon kiitoksia (anyone ever been to Finland?...FYI I haven't) to: Dawnmist of RiverClan, Victoriousjadefan, twenty four7bade, DrizzyJ, Kaylee, and the Guest reviewer! You guys never fail to amaze and humble me with your kind words! :)**

**Now the not so fun stuff...Disclaimer: I had a very nice Christmas, but none of my presents included the ownership rights to either **_The Proposal _**or**_ Victorious_**, so I sadly they're still not mine.**

**Ok, now that all the necessary stuff has been taken care of, let's get to something hopefully enjoyable :D**

**Chapter 13**

The girls returned home to find Andre and Craig in the living room, lounging around watching an American football game on television.

"Where's Beck?" Jade cursed herself internally for being the one to ask, but then realized that she genuinely did want to know his whereabouts.

Chuckling as he spoke, Andre replied with, "He's upstairs attempting to make himself presentable for tonight. Apparently Beck's process takes like _two hours._ I don't even want to know all the details involved in it." Everyone laughed at Andre's explanation.

After recovering from her laughter, and remembering their encounter that morning, Jade did not want to run into Beck before his was finished. Instead she asked, "How long has he been up there?"

"Umm..." Andre paused to look at his watch. "Only about 10 minutes."

"Ugh _great_." Jade said annoyed.

Cat, unaware of the truth, asked innocently, "What's wrong Jadey? You and Beck are engaged. It's not like you haven't seen him getting ready before...right?"

Taking notice of Jade's slight blush, before she turned away, Andre made a mental note to tell Beck later that the plan might not have to be as complicated as they had originally thought.

After recovering herself rather quickly, Jade responded with, "Cat you know it doesn't take me that long to get ready, so I was going to take a nap before I changed, but with _Aladdin_ up there trying to turn himself into a prince, I'll just go outside for a walk instead. Call me when the room is clear."

"Sorry Jade, but we've gotta get going. We need to go back to the mainland to my house so Cat and I can get ready ourselves." Andre then went over and put his arm around Cat's waist to lead her out the door and down to the boat.

"Bye Jade! See you in a few hours!" Cat hollered over her shoulder to Jade just before she and Andre got out the door.

Not bothering to respond since Cat wouldn't hear her anyway, Jade turned to go out the back door.

"I'll send Beck out to get you when he's done so you can come in and get yourself ready, ok dear?" Mary really wanted to go with Jade so she could question the young woman who had stolen her little boy's heart, but she could sense that Jade wanted alone time, so she settled for staying inside for now.

"Thanks." It was all Jade said before leaving.

/

Jade had been walking around in the woods for about 10 minutes, (give or take a minute-for once her mind was occupied with too many other thoughts) when she heard a weird chanting coming from somewhere up ahead. It sounded like the chants Jade had seen in movies featuring Native American Indians. There was also other noises emanating from the same direction, causing Jade to think there might be a whole tribe practicing who knows what in the woods. Curiosity had always been one of Jade's bad qualities, (though it was no where near the worst) but usually it was justified by the satisfaction she received from investigating the situation.

As she got closer and closer to where the noises were coming from, Jade saw that her guess was correct. About twenty feet in front of her in a clearing, was a person dressed in traditional Native American attire, complete with the feathered headdress. Looking around Jade did not see anyone else, but did happen to catch sight of a boom box sitting on a tree stump. The person in the clearing was dancing around with arms raised in the air and acting, in Jade's mind, like someone who belonged in a mental institution.

Jade continued to watch the person, wanting to see just what else would occur. The person finally turned so Jade could see who it was, and her eyes widened in surprise when she saw that the person was actually Betty. Upon recovering her wits, Jade smiled slightly to herself as Betty's craziness made her like older woman just a little bit more. Shaking her head and deciding to walk in another direction, Jade turned around to do just that, but unfortunately stepped on a branch that broke right as there was a break in the chanting.

"Who's there?" Surprisingly, Betty didn't sound the least bit scared, just questioning.

Cursing her unfortunate timing, Jade turned back around so Betty could see her. "It's just me Betty. I came out for a walk because Beck thinks he's a girl and needs hours to get ready for dinner."

"Yes, that boy has always had an unnatural attachment to that hair of his." Both women laughed after Betty's revelation. After recovering herself, Betty continued, "Don't just stand there dear, come on over and join me."

Not really wanting to join, but unable to think of a good excuse to get out of it, Jade begrudgingly made her way towards the older woman.

"Ok, I'm going to go out on a limb and say that you've never attempted any ritualistic dancing before, correct?" At Jade's negative shake of the head, Betty spoke again. "It's really easy. All you have to do is dance around however you want, and chant whatever you're feeling in the moment. The words aren't really important, it's simply the feeling you put behind them. Remember you're trying to get in touch with your inner spiritual self, so there is no right or wrong way to do it."

"Um, no offense Betty, but I'm not really into all this chanting and dancing. Plus, my inner spiritual self and I currently have a well-balanced relationship that really works for us. So I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to decline, but you go right ahead and continue what you were doing. I'll just sit over here and watch." Jade tried to make her way over to an unoccupied tree stump, but was stopped by Betty's hand on her arm.

"Nonsense. You can't just sit there and watch. You must dance a little bit. It's just you and me out here, so will you please give this 90 year old woman an early birthday present and let loose a little with me?"

It was the puppy dog eyes that finally broke down Jade's resolve. It wasn't until that moment that Jade realized Beck had the same exact eyes as his grandmother. She would never admit it to anyone, not even Cat, but those eyes had gotten Beck out of a lot of trouble with Jade in the past, and now they were once again working against her. Cursing herself once again, Jade vowed that she was going to build a better defense for those eyes, but for now, she'd have to simply succumb to Betty's request.

Jade stood there pondering what to sing so she wouldn't have to do any chanting, while Betty waited patiently for her to begin. After a couple of minutes of thinking, there was only one song that popped into Jade's head. Hesitatingly, since she was still unsure of exactly what she was doing, Jade began the song while moving her body around in the makeshift circle in which Betty had created.

"_You know I flaunt ya, cuz girl I really want ya. And you lookin' nice, got me cooler than a bag of ice. Now freeze, freeze, freeze._" Right after she said the words, Jade froze mid-step. Her arms were currently straight up in the air with her head thrown back. Just as she was getting ready to continue with the next line, she was shockingly interrupted by Betty.

"_Now go. Drop it fast and move it real slow._" Having no time to really recover from her surprise, nor think about her actions, Jade reacted on instinct to the words and managed to 'drop it' as per the lyrics' suggestion. The two then went on to continue to dance and sing the rest of the song.

They ended with, "_Five fingaz to the face. Ohhhhhhhh._" As they said the words, each woman put her hand into the other woman's face before dramatically falling to the ground, or in Betty's case, throwing an arm across her forehead and tilting her head back because, though she still had plenty of moves, she wasn't quite as agile as she used to be in her glory days.

After getting up, Jade found herself once again laughing along with Betty, and was just about to make a comment as to how much fun she had, but was stopped by Mary's voice coming from somewhere not too far off.

"Jade? Mom? Where are you?"

Recovering quicker than Betty, Jade was the one who replied. "We're right here Mary. We'll be there in just a minute."

"Okay, see you both soon." Jade and Betty heard Mary's footsteps fading away shortly after her words.

Helping by carrying the boom box, Jade and Betty made their way back to the house to get themselves ready for Betty's birthday dinner.

/

_Meanwhile, back at the house..._

Beck had finished getting ready and made his way downstairs about an hour after Jade had left. Noticing only his parents in the living room, he made his way to the kitchen looking for Jade. He was trying out some new cologne (per Andre's suggestion) and wanted to know Jade's thoughts on it. Not seeing her in there either, he asked, "Where's Jade?"

"Oh, she went out for a walk while you finished getting ready dear. Now that I think about it though, she's been gone for quite some time, and I haven't seen your grandmother for a while either. I was going to send you out to get her when you got done, but I think I'll go try to find them and tell them to come get ready so we won't be late for dinner. That way you don't ruin your lovely dress clothes. Now you two boys behave while I'm gone." With those parting words, Mary gave each man a warning look then left to find other women.

It was quiet for the first few minutes, with each man watching the game on television. As the game went to a commercial break, Craig felt it was time to continue the conversation/argument the two were having the last time they were alone, when Beck had announced his engagement. The two had done barely anything more than trade 'hellos' since then.

"So Beck, are you ready to speak rationally regarding your _relationship_ with Jade now?"

The way Craig put a special infliction while saying the word relationship caused Beck to remember the anger he had felt the day before, but for the time being, he held it back. "Dad when will you get over your dislike of my fiancee and realize that she is going to be a part of this family no matter what you have to say regarding the matter?" Beck was proud of himself for not immediately going off on his dad, but instead actually trying to have a civil conversation.

"I'm sorry son, but I just cannot sit by and watch you be manipulated and used by a woman who doesn't care a single thing about you. I did a lot of thinking last night, and spoke with your mother about the situation. She doesn't agree with my choice, but I absolutely refuse to support your decision to marry that woman. With that said, I'm going to make you a one-time offer. Your mother doesn't, and will never have to know, so listen closely and keep this just between us. If you break up with Jade now and quit working for her, I guarantee you that you will land the leading role in the next blockbuster film. Not only that, but I will also pay the rent on your apartment for the next year. Now, I don't want you to give me an answer right away, just think about it and let me know before you leave Irricana, okay?"

What little control Beck had been maintaining on his anger was steadily slipping away with each word that came out of his dad's mouth. At the end of Craig's speech, Beck was seeing nothing but red, and couldn't even form words to respond. After eventually gaining control enough to not completely go off on his dad, he finally spoke. "Dad I appreciate the fact that you are wanting to help me, but for the last time-I'm not breaking up with Jade. We are getting married and I DON'T NEED YOUR HELP!" Beck's voice had rose steadily during his speech, and he didn't realize he was yelling until after the words left his mouth and there was pin-dropping silence between the two men, save for the noises emitting from the television set.

Craig, after about five minutes, opened his mouth to tell Beck to pack up his things and leave the house immediately, but wasn't able to get a word out as Mary entered the room, having just gotten back from her outing.

Taking one look at the faces of both Beck and Craig, Mary knew there was a heavy tension in the air. Wanting to break it and know what happened, she decided to say, "So, did I miss anything while I was gone?"

/

Despite the lingering anger he was feeling, Beck was stopped from getting out of his chair and leaving the room, and couldn't help the smile that spread across his face when he saw Jade walk through the door not two minutes after his mom spoke. "Hey...did you have a good walk?"

"Yes actually, I did. Your grandmother has some great taste in music." Jade smiled slyly as she spoke, causing Beck to raise an inquisitive eyebrow.

"Oh really?"

"Uh huh. Now I'm going to go get ready for dinner, and unlike _someone,_ (looking pointedly at Beck) I will not take more than 30 minutes." Making her way through the living room towards the stairs, Jade had to pass by the chair in which Beck was seated. Right after she got behind him she caught wind of the cologne he was wearing. "What's that smell?" The question wasn't asked with any disdain, so Beck figured Jade didn't hate upon the first sniff.

Beck, wearing Italian cologne to try and impress Jade per his and Andre's plan, gave his reply happily. "Oh, that's my new cologne. It's called _Baldessarini Del Mar_." Beck was glad he was able to say the name without messing it up. "Do you like it?" He held his breath waiting on Jade's response.

"It's okay." Came the immediate response. Still in a happier-than-usual state since her fun in the woods, however, Jade decided to mess with Beck a little bit. "Of course it's the also scent my ex-boyfriend used to wear when he went out and cheated on me every night, so thanks for that memory." She hoped her smile appeared more sarcastic than it's true jovial nature, and she congratulated herself on pulling it off when she saw and heard Beck's response.

Beck's eyes immediately became as wide as saucers, and he had trouble getting his words out. "Uh...um...ah...I'm s-so s-sorry Jade. I d-didn't mean t-to bring up any b-bad m-emories for you."

Deciding to take pity on Beck, and make sure he didn't waste two more hours by taking another shower, Jade set him straight. "Relax Beck. I'm just messing with you. It was fun seeing your reaction." Giving him a wink and laughing, Jade turned and made her way up the stairs to get ready.

After recovering from another round of laughing herself, Betty walked over to Beck and spoke honestly. "I am so glad you proposed to that woman Beck. She's going to make such a wonderful addition to this family. Now if you all will excuse me, I must go get ready as well. Can't have the guest of honor not be the best looking woman at the party can we?" With those parting words Betty also walked away to get ready.

Beck was left speechless in his chair in the women's wake. Not too long after Betty had gone, a faint smile graced Beck's lips as he remembered Jade's words and actions just before she left. He realized that his plan had a higher chance of success than he and Andre had originally thought. He knew that Jade's joking with him was her way of expressing her approval of his cologne. Had she not liked it though, nothing could have kept him from jumping right back in the shower and scrubbing himself raw.

True to her word, it was exactly 30 minutes later (with no more words spoken between Beck and Craig, despite Mary's numerous attempts to make conversation) when Jade returned to the living room wearing a dress she bought earlier that day during her shopping trip in town with the girls. Forgoing her trademark black, Jade had opted for a dark blue (small steps) tea length strapless dress with a light blue ribbon wrapped around her middle. She wore a sapphire necklace (it had once belonged to Cat's mom, but was given to Jade for her 21st birthday because Cat wanted her to officially feel like part of the family) and dark blue pumps that matched her dress, while carrying a black clutch (it was the only purse she owned). Jade She had even curled her hair into gorgeous spirals that cascaded down her back. She knew she looked good, but the way Beck was looking at her made her feel like a goddess.

After picking his jaw up off the floor, and not at all ashamed to be caught staring, Beck was finally able to speak. "Wow Jade. You look amazing."

"Thank you _honey_ (as she said it, she realized that she was actually starting to like saying the word). You act like I don't look this gorgeous every day." She chuckled to let him know she wasn't really mad, and was happy when he didn't try to say anything to make the situation worse for himself.

Beck simply smiled his mega-watt smile and took a chance by walking up to Jade and placing a kiss on her cheek. After he pulled back, he and Jade stood there staring into each other's eyes. Ever so slowly, both Beck and Jade began to lean in, and were just about to kiss when they were interrupted by Betty, who hadn't realized what was going on when she entered the living room.

"Okay, I'm ready to go. This birthday girl wants to party!"

Beck had turned to face his Nana at her outburst, therefore he missed the disappointed look that flashed across Jade's face as the spell was broken. Beck, on the other hand, was able to hide his disappointment behind a semi-staged smile.

Taking Jade's hand in his own, Beck gave it a slight squeeze. He was rewarded by a genuine smile from Jade, and together, along with Betty, Mary, and Craig, they made their way out of the house and down to the boat dock.

**AN: I think it's a little shorter than usual, but I tried to put some good stuff in there. Hope you smiled at least once or twice! To those who haven't seen the movie, the dancing/chanting in the woods with Sandra Bullock is so much funnier than what I put in here, so if you watch nothing else of the movie, at least YouTube that part. That's really all I've got for now, so until next time, maa al salama (got Egypt on the brain-watched **_The Mummy_** recently) my mysteriously merry marmots :)**


	14. Chapter 14

**Oh my gosh you guys have no idea how much your support means to me! I'm so thankful that so many of you are liking this story, and putting up with all my craziness. Also, thank you to those of you who offered your condolences regarding my friend. Liz Gillies (at least from what I know about her) reminds me a lot of my friend-they're both old souls. Ok, sadness time is over, but I don't have anything else to say. I tried to make this shorter than usual so those of you who are actually reading it can get onto the story quicker. :)**

**Before we get to the main fun, we've gotta have a little pre-fun, so now it's SHOUT OUT TIME!**

**Большое спасибо (Going Russian this time) to: Victoriousjadefan, Dawnmist of RiverClan, Kaylee, maggie, Bade, tikeshipper032, xFabinao, the Guest, and DrizzyJ. :D**

**Disclaimer: Still wish I did, but as of today I do not own either **_TheProposal_** or **_Victorious_

**Oh, one last thing before we get to the good stuff...I am now registered as a Beta! So if you or anyone you know is looking for one, I'm available. :)**

**I'm done now...enjoy what you came for...**

**Chapter 14**

The group made their way into Shellfish for Life only moderately late, but that was okay because it was Betty's party, so the fun didn't start until she got there anyway. In Jade's opinion, the restaurant was actually bigger than what Betty had originally described to her, as there were enough tables and chairs to seat around 100 people. Even though the Olivers owned more than half of the town, they could only manage to get a small section secluded just for them, as opposed to the whole restaurant. This was because it was seafood season, and that was the only seafood restaurant in town.

After being shown to the table, Jade saw that there were more than quite a few people she recognized from the gathering the previous night at Beck's family's house. Of course the only ones around her age were Beck, Andre, Cat, and Violet, but she had a feeling that it was going to be a very entertaining and memorable evening nonetheless.

Jade never believed in anyone having psychic abilities, but she has always taken pride in her ability to read most people and situations quite easily. Her suspicion of an entertaining and memorable evening was proven correct before she and Beck had even taken their seats.

As soon Betty was in sight, one of the older gentleman at the table stood up and enthusiastically greeted her with either an affectionate (according to Jade and basically everyone else at the table) or highly inappropriate (according to Beck) public display-he kissed her right on the lips.

After separating, the man told Betty, "Happy birthday my dear."

"Why thank you Jack. I'll accept your kiss for now, but I expect to get my real present later." The remark was accompanied by a wink, and everyone (minus Beck) broke out in varying degrees of laughter.

"Nana! What did I tell you about TMI huh? Ugh, I need to get back to California before something happens that not even therapy will fix." With that said, Beck gave an exaggerated shudder.

"Oh relax. Your grandmother is 90 so let her enjoy what life she has left." Jade whispered the words in Beck's ear. Then, on impulse, gave him a peck on the cheek.

Beck was left slightly dazed, and therefore missed the words Betty spoke next.

"Beckett Oliver, you sit down. This is my party and I will do what I want. You just better hope you can even see that gorgeous woman on your arm when you get to be my age." More laughter followed Betty's words.

Beck, still on cloud nine from Jade willingly kissing him, broke out of his stupor at the sound. Not realizing why they were all laughing, he turned to Jade and managed to just catch sight of a blush on her cheek before she grabbed her chair to sit down. Continuing with his and Andre's plan, Beck called upon everything he had ever learned about being a gentleman, and politely removed Jade's hands from her chair so he could pull it out for her.

Jade, only mildly surprised, mumbled a 'thanks' before taking her seat.

Beck then took his seat next to her on her left. They were seated across the table from Andre, Cat, and Violet (with Violet being directly across from Beck, Andre to her left-directly across from Jade, and Cat to Andre's left). Beck caught sight of Andre's questioning look, and mouthed 'later' before grabbing his menu to give himself something to look at so he wouldn't have to see what was going on at Betty's end of the table.

/

Much to Jade's dismay, after the initial kiss from Betty's boyfriend Jack and the accompanying reaction from Beck, nothing exciting or entertaining had happened since. She had mostly just been listening to the conversations around her, chiming in with her own comments when necessary. It wasn't until the party was halfway through their dinner when things started to get interesting.

It started out innocently enough, with Violet deciding that now was the perfect time to learn more about Beck and Jade's past, since Jade wouldn't divulge anything earlier at the bar.

"So, Beck." Beck had been making small talk with his neighbor, but had just finished right before Violet gained his attention. At Beck's questioning eyebrow Violet continued. "I was talking with Jade earlier, and I asked her how the two of you met, but unfortunately we ran out of time before she could answer." She paused to give Jade a knowing look, but Jade simply smirked at her in reply. "As I was saying, Jade wouldn't tell me anything, so I decided to ask Cat while we were waiting for you guys to get here. She told me how you met, but not about how you first got together."

"CAT!" Jade's outburst caused conversations to pause not just at their table, but across the whole restaurant. Cat dropped her fork with a squeak, then turned and buried her face in Andre's shoulder.

Looking around and realizing that everyone in the place was currently staring at their table, Beck decided to speak up. "It's okay folks. Everyone just go back to enjoying your food." After a few skeptical looks and undecipherable mutterings, people went back to whatever they were doing before Jade's yell. At their table, however, everyone continued to stare at Jade.

Jade didn't know why, because as far as her angry outbursts went, that one was actually on the lower end of the scale.

It didn't take long for Cat to recover because Andre had wrapped his arm around her and whispered calming words into her ear. She finally composed herself enough to respond to Jade's yell, but was still attached to Andre's side. "Whaty?" She asked it so innocently, like she had no idea exactly why Jade had yelled.

"Why would you tell Violet about my personal life?" Jade spoke calmly, but not the deceptively calm tone she used when she was still angry, so Cat knew that it was safe to leave Andre's embrace.

She sat up straighter and said, "I'm sorry Jadey. I told her that was your business, but then she gave me candy, and you know I can't say no to candy!"

Jade turned to glare at Violet. "What?! How dare you take advantage of Cat. How did you know candy would make her talk anyway?"

To Jade, Violet replied, "I didn't know it would make her talk. I just knew that she liked candy because she mentioned it earlier." To Cat, she said, "I'm sorry Cat. I didn't mean to put you in that position."

"It's okay. I forgive you Violet." Seeing that Cat was back to her normal bubbly self, and that the drama was pretty much over, everyone besides the five youngest adults at the table went back to what he or she was doing before the disruption.

"Yeah well I don't forgive you. My personal life is none of your business, so stay out of it." Jade wasn't as mad as her words were portraying because she knew that Cat didn't know anything about her relationship with Beck, but she didn't want Violet to interrogate the poor girl any longer.

Beck finally chose that moment to step into the girl's conversation. Placing an inconspicuous hand on Jade's leg, just above her knee and rubbing it in slow circles with his thumb, he turned to her saying, "Babe calm down. Violet didn't mean to cause any harm. Now she apologized to Cat, so just let it go and let's enjoy the rest of the evening. Besides, we're here for Nana's birthday, so please try not to take any more of the focus off of her because I would really like the rest of my time in Irricana to be pleasant."

The feel of his hand on her leg had instantly calmed her down more than his words ever could. Jade was hypnotized not only by his hand's movements, but also by the tone in which he was speaking. This caused her to only catch sporadic words of what Beck was saying. What she did hear, however, brought a serene smile to her face. She didn't say anything in response to Beck's comments, merely picked up her fork and continued eating as if nothing out of the ordinary had even occurred.

Beck, seeing that Jade wasn't going to cause any more attention to be directed at their little group, began to retract his hand from its comfortable position. As soon as he had lost contact with the fabric of her dress his hand felt cold. He didn't have any time to be sad because he immediately felt Jade's hand within his own. He hadn't even noticed she'd dropped it down from the table.

Andre, however, had noticed. He gave the couple across from him a sneaky smile, although neither of them were looking in his direction. He then proceeded to turn to Cat and whispered "I love you" into her ear.

Cat replied in kind before giving him a sweet kiss on the lips.

/

Once the calm atmosphere resettled around the table, it lasted throughout the rest of the meal. After he finished, Beck sat back in his chair, stomach full, and put the arm that had previously been holding Jade's hand, around her shoulders. In response, Jade leaned closer to him and rested her head on his shoulder, a content smile on her face. Beck wished nothing more than to just stay in that moment forever, but unfortunately the night still held many twists and turns.

As people were making small talk waiting on Betty's cake to be delivered, Violet's grandmother chose to finally speak to Beck. He had tried to say hello to her earlier, since he hadn't seen her at the party the night before, but she either didn't hear him (very likely) or was just ignoring him, (for reasons unknown) so he hadn't made a second attempt.

"So Beckett, (she was the only person who refused to ever call him Beck) how long have you been in town?"

Violet had no idea where her grandmother was going with the conversation, but she decided that she would let it play out for now and interfere if necessary.

Beck, who had been subconsciously playing with loose tendrils of Jade's hair and occasionally rubbing her bare shoulder, turned his head towards Violet's grandmother to answer her question. "We just got in yesterday. I'm sorry I didn't see you last night at my parent's house."

"Oh that's because I wasn't there dear. Violet told me she was going to see you, and I didn't want to get in the way of the two of you making plans for your wedding."

Everyone within hearing distance of their conversation began shifting uncomfortably, but said nothing. Beck raised a questioning eyebrow towards Violet, and Jade suddenly bolted upright with the start of a burning fire raging in her eyes. Beck's arm was knocked off by Jade's movement, so he placed it on the back of her chair instead.

Inside Violet was panicking. She had no idea what to say because she never told her grandmother about the end of her relationship with Beck. She hated to admit it, but she honestly didn't think that the older woman would live long enough for it to become an issue. Violet knew she had to say something soon, otherwise it appeared that Jade would once again cause a scene, and she didn't think it would be as mild as the last one.

"Um Grandma Ruth, Beck and I aren't actually together anymore. We broke up a while ago, and the woman sitting next to him is his new fiancee, Jade." Violet was happy to discover that it didn't hurt to admit that another woman currently owned Beck's heart.

"Nonsense Violet. You and Beck are made for each other, and it would make this old woman's heart happy to see you two get married before I die."

As if the tension around the table wasn't thick before, it was practically impenetrable after Ruth's statement. Jade appeared to want to murder someone, but was (in Beck's opinion) doing a great job of reigning it in.

Violet looked pleadingly at Beck. He let out a sigh before linking his hand with Jade's and bringing them up to rest on the table for Ruth to see.

"I'm sorry you didn't know Ruth, but it's true. I am engaged to Jade, (he lifted their joined hands for emphasis) not Violet."

Unfortunately for Beck, he happened to be holding Jade's left hand. Now Ruth may be old, but there was hardly anything wrong with her eyesight, and she zeroed in on their linked hands with a predator's gaze.

"I may be a traditionalist, but I don't see a ring on that hand. So I'm sorry Beckett, but I just don't believe that you two are engaged."

The fire in Jade's eyes was becoming a blazing inferno with every word that came out of Ruth's mouth. She was on the verge of telling the old hag exactly what she thought of the woman's opinion, and where that opinion could be shoved, but Beck felt the extra strength with which she was gripping his hand, and as if he had done it thousands of times before, lifted their hands to his lips and kissed the back of Jade's. As had become her habit lately whenever Beck did anything of that nature, Jade visibly deflated and stopped trying to break his bones.

"I can completely understand your hesitation to accept our news Ruth, but actually Jade's ring is at the jewelers back in California. It's getting re-sized because I was just in such a rush to propose that I wanted to give her the ring right away, even if it was too big."

Jade, knowing how good of an actor Beck is, was still surprised at the lie that rolled so easily off of his tongue. She was brought back to the conversation, and consequently her anger, with Ruth's next words.

"True as that may be, I believe this _news _is just an act for you to make my dear Violet jealous. You're trying to distract yourself from your love for her by finding the woman who is her exact opposite, and somehow getting her to agree to go along with your ruse. Now give up this charade and come sit over here next to Violet, where you belong."

Unfortunately for the small group in the immediate vicinity of the conversation, Ruth's voice had risen on the last words, and suddenly the whole restaurant once again became interested in what was being said.

Ripping her hand away, and standing up so suddenly that Beck didn't even have time to register the loss of physical contact, Jade threw her arms up in the air. "That's it! I've had just about enough of your babbling. Listen here _Ruth_. Beck loves me. He and I are getting married, and there's no chance whatsoever that he and your _precious Violet_ will get back together." Turning to Betty, "I'm so sorry Betty. I tried to be nice and not ruin your party any more, but I just couldn't sit here and continue to let her belittle my relationship with your grandson." Turning back to Beck, "I'm not sorry for what I said, so now the call is yours. I'm going to walk out that door and you can either choose to follow me, or you can agree with what she said by staying here." Seeing that Cat wanted to get up and follow, Jade motioned to her to stay seated, then spun on her heel and strode confidently out of the restaurant.

**(So once again I was going to leave you guys hanging, but I've been in such a good mood lately with these new episodes that I just had to keep going with this chapter. You're welcome.)**

/

Still too stunned by what had just been said, Beck didn't follow after Jade right away. He was brought back to his surroundings at the sound of arguing voices.

He could specifically make out Ruth's, "I say let her leave. She knows you'll be happier with my Violet anyway."

This was followed by Violet's loud, "Grandma! Please just stop talking because you're not helping anything!"

Then out of nowhere came Craig saying, "I agree with Ruth. You know your relationship with Jade wasn't the best thing for you son. It's better this way."

Beck was beginning to get whiplash from trying to pay attention to what everyone at the table was saying.

Andre, while consoling a whimpering Cat, (who was upset because wouldn't let her go outside) tried not to jostle her too much as he angrily snapped his fingers in Beck's face in order to get his best friend's attention.

"Dude what the hell are you still sitting here for? There is no choice! Go after Jade!"

Andre's words were just the kick in the butt Beck needed. He sprung up so fast that the chair clattered noisily to the ground, effectively stopping all conversation around him. Beck then turned and made his way out of the restaurant as fast as he could, hoping that Jade hadn't gone too far.

Jade, meanwhile, had been out front pacing back and forth, steadily working herself up into quite a fit from the moment she stepped outside.

_"Perché non mi segui? Ritiene che in realtà d'accordo con quello che bitty vecchio stava dicendo. Ho pensato che, forse, abbiamo iniziato ad arrivare da qualche parte ... soprattutto oggi?"_ (**Translation: "Why didn't he follow me? Does he actually agree with what that old bitty was saying? I thought, maybe, we were starting to get somewhere...especially today."**). Jade, realizing where her thoughts were beginning to take her, started to berate herself. _"Aspetta un attimo. Perché sto ancora in piedi qui in attesa su di lui come un patetico angst-driven eroina?" _(**"Wait a minute. Why am I still standing here waiting on him like some pathetic angst-driven heroine?"**).

Though every once in a while people would give her weird looks, no one dared to go near the enraged Italian. No one, that is, except one Beck Oliver. Jade had turned to walk away, cursing Beck to hell and back, but had only taken a few steps before Beck caught up with her. He knew from experience that if he grabbed her arm and turned her around, she would immediately start throwing punches...and maybe even a kick or two. So instead, he went up behind her, wrapped both of his arms around her midsection, effectively trapping her arms against her body, and hugged her tightly to him.

Jade instantly began fighting against what she thought was an attacker, until the words Beck was speaking penetrated through the anger-induced haze that was floating around her brain.

"Jade...Jade...relax. It's just me, Beck. I'm not trying to hurt you." Seeing that Jade had begun calming down as he spoke, Beck figured it was safe to release her. Unfortunately, he was wrong.

As soon as Jade was free she spun around and began hitting and yelling at Beck. "You jackass! What the _hell_ took you so long to get out here? I was starting to think that you weren't coming _at all_, then that thought just made me all the more pissed off at you, and then-"

Jade was abruptly cut off by Beck's lips pressing urgently against hers. He had finally gotten ahold of her flailing arms, and pinned them in between their bodies as they kissed. Too stunned to do anything, Jade simply stood there and let Beck take control. Just as he started to pull away, however, Jade regained control of her senses and chased after him with her own lips.

Beck was ecstatic that Jade initiated the second kiss. He let go of her wrists to wrap his own arms around her waist again, holding her as closely as he dared.

Instead of pushing him away, as was her original intention, Jade instead found herself sliding her hands up Beck's chest, then crossing her arms behind his neck to bring herself even closer to his body.

So caught up in their make-out session, neither Jade nor Beck even realized Andre and Cat were standing there until Cat couldn't stay quiet any longer and squealed...loudly.

"EEEEEEEEEEK! Oh my gosh Jadey, you and Beck are _so cute!_ Now you're not mad anymore, right?"

Breaking out of their little moment, but still holding onto one another, Beck and Jade turned to look at the intruders. Jade broke the silence. "To be honest Cat, yeah I am still a little mad, but it was getting better until you guys decided to INTERRUPT!"

"Jade, calm down." Beck rubbed slow, small circles on Jade's lower back until her breathing became normal again. Turning himself to look at the other couple Beck said, "Guys I think it might be better if Jade and I go back to the house so we can sort out some things." Looking at Andre, but pointedly ignoring the knowing expression on his best friend's face, "Dre, do you mind taking us home in the boat then bringing it back here so my family can get use it later?"

Proud of himself for keeping his laughter in check Andre just said, "Sure man. I can do that." Turning to face Cat, "Cat, baby, do you mind staying here and telling Beck's family what's going on while I'm gone? I promise to come back as soon as possible."

"Kay kay. Bye Beck. Bye Jade. I'll see you tomorrow right?"

"Yes Cat, we'll see you tomorrow." Beck had been the one to respond seeing as how Jade had leaned her head on his chest after he calmed her down, and had been too content to move it since then.

After kissing Andre goodbye, Cat turned and skipped back into the restaurant.

Beck noticed there was a chill in the air, so he took off the coat he was still wearing and wrapped it around Jade's shoulders. She snuggled happily into it, then linked her arm through Beck's while learning against his side as the three of them made their way down to the boat, with Beck and Andre subtly fist bumping each other on the success of their plan.

**A/N: Oooh things are getting spicy. ;-). Hope you liked it! That's all for now, so until next time Salukes (yay Flemish) my saintly seagulls :D**


	15. Chapter 15

**OMG...I am so speechless. Chapter 14 was the first chapter to ever get a double digit number of reviews! You guys have no idea how happy you have made me! Like I seriously want to give each and every one of you a huge hug and a nice shiny Lincoln (penny that is, not a car-don't get too carried away now...lol) for all of your wonderfully kind words and actions (i.e. favoriting and following). I worked extra super hard to get this chapter out to you guys as soon as possible for two reasons. One is as a reward to you guys for being so awesome, and two is because things are getting ready to be incredibly crazy at work, and I really don't know when I'll be able to get the next chapter out. I won't bore you with all the details, but I do promise to work on this story whenever I get a spare minute, so hopefully it won't be as long as I'm anticipating (just for the record, I'm anticipating like 3 weeks).**

**Okay, I think that's it for my note, so you know what comes next...that's right, it's SHOUT OUT TIME!**

**Hvala puno (just watched Novak Djokovic this morning at the Australian open, so in honor of him, we're going Serbian) to: xFabinao, blueefaiiryy, Dawnmist of RiverClan, DrizzyJ, Kaylee, (since I couldn't send you a PM, no Ruth's character was not in the movie-she's one of my creative liberties) Divastar6, Victoriousjadefan, BadeFan4ever22, bella1985, SouthernB3lle, the Guest, Jadorade, and mina! :D**

**Only one more little thing to get out of the way: I do not currently own either **_The Proposal_** or **_Victorious_**. I do, however, own the character of Violet's grandmother, Ruth.**

**Okay, now I hope you enjoy this chapter, and that it's enough to keep you satisfied until next time :)**

**Chapter 15**

The boat ride back to the house had been quiet and, luckily for Jade, uneventful. Since Andre had already seen she and Beck making out and cuddling outside the restaurant before interrupting them, she decided to sit next to Beck on the boat. She laid her head on his shoulder, and made herself once again comfortable in his embrace. When they eventually made it to the dock at the house, Beck disembarked the boat first so he could help Jade get out after him. For what was probably the first time in her life, Jade smiled shyly, then allowed Beck to assist her out of the boat. As an act of defiance to herself for seeming so helpless in her eyes, however, Jade determined that she wouldn't say thank you to either Beck for helping her, or Andre for driving them in the boat.

Having known Jade for as long as he has, Beck wasn't surprised that she didn't thank him, but the little smile she sent his way was more than enough for him in his current state. Gently tugging Jade's hand, (which he was happily still holding for neither had let go after Jade was safely on the dock) Beck kept her from walking away just yet.

Jade quirked an eyebrow in question, but acquiesced to his silent request, and stayed where she was, waiting for him to speak.

"Jade, would you mind waiting for me at the end of the dock? I need to have a quick word with Andre, but it won't take more than a minute or two, then we'll go on up to the house, okay?"

Floating between still being upset with herself for acting all girly and accepting Beck's help from the boat, and still on a high from Beck's kisses, Jade took one look into Beck's eyes and knew the battle was lost. She simply nodded her head in response, then let go of his hand to turn and walk the remaining distance to where the dock began.

Once Jade was out of earshot, Beck immediately held up his hand to ward off Andre's inevitable questioning. "Look man, this is one of those times where you once again just gotta trust me for now and know that we'll talk about everything tomorrow. Besides, look at it this way, if you let me go now so I can _talk _with Jade, I'm sure I'll have tons of other stuff to tell you about." Beck's suggestive eyebrow wiggle told Andre exactly what he was implying.

"Beck, dude, I don't even want to imagine what your _talk_ is going to consist of, but I know you well enough to know that you're going to keep your word. So I'll be patient for now, go back to the restaurant and, as your best friend, try to smooth everything over and make sure it's all good, then I'm going to take my gorgeous girlfriend home and have a nice little _talk_ of our own. Then tomorrow, I will bring Cat here so the girls can have their time while we once again pretend to do manly things to cover up the fact that we're gossiping just as much as them. Of course, this is assuming that Jade doesn't kill you tonight...haha."

"Oh hardy har har. Your sarcasm never fails to amaze me. But seriously, thanks Andre. I'm glad that you've always got my back. Now, I think I should get back to Jade before she actually does start to contemplate killing me for leaving her alone for too long."

After sharing a laugh following Beck's statement, Andre pushed off from the dock and drove the boat back across the lake, while Beck made his way to Jade. When he reached her, he took hold of her hand, then walked with her up to the house.

/

By the time Andre made his way back inside the restaurant, he was surprised to find everyone who was there for Betty's party calmly engaging in random discussions all along the table. No one besides he and Cat had made any attempts to get up and follow in the couple's footsteps, and there were no requests as to where either Beck or Jade had gone. Although Andre found the whole scene incredibly weird, he decided he wasn't going to volunteer any information, and simply reclaimed his seat next to Cat.

Andre leaned down and spoke directly into Cat's ear so the two could have a private conversation. "So my Little Red," he paused at Cat's giggle when she heard her nickname, "what did you tell everyone when you came back inside? They're all nice and calm now, and with this family, that's not necessarily a good thing."

Turning to face her boyfriend Cat replied, "I told them just what you wanted me to, silly. I said that Beck and Jadey were kissing and being all romantic, but they wanted to go back to the house to be alone for a little while. Beck's Nana gave me a funny look when I said that, and neither his parents nor Violet's grandma Ruth looked too happy, but everyone else was smiling, so I just sat back down, and now we're all waiting for the cake." Cat finally took a breath after she finished speaking.

It used to worry Andre when Cat would speak so much without breathing, for he feared she would pass out every time. Now, however, whenever he thinks about her lung capacity, he zones out for a minute while a fond smile forms on his face, such as was the case at the current moment.

Shaking his head to bring himself back to the present, Andre looked at Betty and saw that Cat was correct. The birthday girl was staring weirdly at Andre, but unlike Cat, he was able to discern the look in the older woman's eyes-it was mischievousness, mixed with love and a fondness he always saw whenever she was spoke to or about Beck. In return, Andre gave Betty his own conspiratorial wink and smile.

Everyone's attention was then brought to the waiters as they brought out Betty's birthday cake. Per Betty's request, only two candles were on the cake-the numbers representing her age. She didn't want it to be too hard to blow them out when the time came. After a rousing rendition of 'Happy Birthday,' the candles were blown out, the cake was cut, and everyone who was left at the table enjoyed a delicious slice.

Andre and Cat took turns feeding each other, with Andre alternating between feeling like the happiest man in the world at the moment, and trying not to think about what was going on with Beck and Jade.

/

They had just walked inside the house, and as soon as the door was shut behind them, Jade found herself pressed up against it. She was trapped between the door and Beck's body, with his hands firmly planted on her waist, and his lips hungrily attacking hers in a demanding kiss. The minute his lips touched hers, Jade was lost in the oblivion that she had discovered Beck's kisses always brought to her. She had no choice (not that there really would have been any) but to comply with his unspoken request, and returned the pressure just as enthusiastically, while tangling her hands in his hair.

They had been making out for who knew how long, before Beck eventually pulled himself away from the lure of Jade's lips, only to trail his own across her jaw and down the side of her neck.

Coming back to Earth at the loss of lip-to-lip contact, Jade was ready to go off on him for the separation. Before she could, however, she registered the pressure on her neck. Relaxing back against the door, she tilted her head to the side in order to give Beck's lips easier access.

Like Jade, Beck was also lost to his surroundings as soon as his lips touched hers. Wanting to take things further, but not wanting to be in the living room whenever his family came back, Beck reluctantly pulled himself away from Jade's neck. He wasted no time by immediately grabbing her hand and pulling her toward the stairs to their room. They had made it all the way to the base of the stairs before Jade used their joined hands to yank him to a stop.

"Beck, stop." At Beck's questioning look, she continued. "Look, it's not that I don't want to continue to our intended destination, but this is all just moving a little too fast for me right now. I think we need to sit down and talk about things before anything further happens."

Struggling between wanting to relieve the building pressure in his pants by trying to convince Jade that everything was fine and that they weren't moving too fast, and realistically knowing that she was probably right and they needed to actually talk first, (Jade's version, not Beck's) Beck tried not to express any disappointment with his response.

"You're right Jade. As much as I want to just take you upstairs and we have our wicked way with each other, I know no part of our situation is exactly normal, and we need to make sure we're both on the same page first."

Beck's words caused a pleasant sensation to run through Jade's system, culminating in her core. Shaking the feeling off so she could think rationally, Jade pulled him over to sit down on the couch. Knowing how addictive Beck's lips were, however, Jade opted to sit in the chair opposite the couch in order to keep her mind on the conversation.

"Okay I'll go first. As I said, things are moving very fast at the moment. I mean it was barely three days ago that we went from being boss and assistant, to having to fake an engagement to each other. That just doesn't happen in real life. Then I don't exactly have any time to adjust before we have to come up here and really put on a show for your whole family, and I don't know about you, but my emotions have just been all over the place since Wednesday, and it's because of all that's happened recently that _penso che sto iniziando a, forse, sono più che gentile sentimenti per voi-_" (**I think I'm starting to, maybe, have more than friendly feelings for you-**)

"Jade." Beck tried to interrupt the tangent that Jade was currently on, but she was too far into her monologue to hear him.

"_e non può essere normale, o direttamente, ma sei il solo chi effettivamente bloccato intorno-_"(**and it may not be normal, or even right, but you're the only guy who's actually stuck around-**)

"Jade!" Beck once again tried to get her attention. This time though, he got off the couch and began walking towards the preoccupied Italian.

"_ed essere qui con voi mi ha davvero cambiato, e-_" (**and being here with you has really changed me, and-**)

"JADE!" Beck had reached the chair in which Jade was sitting and managed to grab her wrists, thus stopping her arms from their continuous flailing.

At the sound of Beck's voice, and the feel of his hands on her skin, Jade immediately stopped speaking in Italian, but couldn't stop the next words from coming out of her mouth. "I want our relationship to be real, not fake anymore." Her eyes expanded to twice their normal size as soon as the words left her mouth and registered in her ears.

Likewise, Beck's own eyes widened to the size of dinner plates. He automatically dropped her wrists, and managed to stumble his way back to the couch, where he unceremoniously dropped down with a _thump_.

The two sat in complete silence, each lost in thought, for a solid five minutes.

Once he felt he was composed enough to speak, Beck responded to Jade's words.

"Um, wow. I didn't realize that you felt that way about us and our situation. I mean, I have no idea what all else you just said, but...wow."

Beck's reply to her declaration caused something to snap inside Jade, and she let him know it. "Wow?! That's basically all you have to say? You just sat there for who knows how long, and that's the only thing that comes out of your mouth? No 'I feel the same way.' Or even 'Sorry, but I don't want a real relationship, just sex and to still have a job when we get home.' I mean Jesus Beck, I know you're a great actor and all, but you've got to have some kind of opinion one way or another." By the time she finished, Jade was starting to wear a hole in the living room carpet with her angry footsteps.

It was Jade's words, more so than the emphasis in which they were spoken, that evoked a reaction. Beck jumped up from the couch and stepped right in her path, effectively stopping her pacing.

"_Excuse me_ for not having the right words to say. Last time I checked, I'M NOT THE WRITER IN THIS RELATIONSHIP!" He lowered his voice when he saw Jade slightly flinch at his tone. "Your admission just caught me off guard, and so many things started running through my mind. Unfortunately, that's the only coherent thing that was able to come out of my mouth." Seeing that she was starting to calm down and actually listen to him, Beck took a chance and grabbed Jade's hands in his own.

"Okay. Say I do believe what you're saying right now. One, never yell at me like that again or else you won't get the chance to live to regret it." This brought a laugh to both of them, breaking any residual tension in the room. "And two, let's start with the basics first. How do you feel about me?"

After taking a deep breath to steady himself, Beck spoke while looking directly into Jade's eyes. "In the past, I thought that you were rude to everyone, bossier than what your job description entails, and basically incapable of any real feelings or emotions other than anger." Both smiled at Beck's assessment, for Jade knew just how mean she can really get. "But, getting you away from Hollywood and seeing you in a different light, even though it's only been such a short time, has forced me to acknowledge my own more-than-friendly feelings for you. I even confessed to Andre, so if you don't believe me, just ask him." Beck had let go of one of Jade's hands to place his own on her cheek and rub his thumb along the bone.

Determined not to act like a girly girl and let any tears escape her eyes, Jade blinked rapidly. "Who's the writer in this relationship now, huh? You underestimate yourself sometimes, for you also have quite a way with words." Without waiting for a response, Jade leaned forward and innocently pressed her lips to Beck's.

Although it was meant to be a simple, sweet kiss, it rapidly exploded into something that neither could control. Jade, happier now after clearing the air with their talk, was somehow coherent enough to bring her free hand up to tug on Beck's hair, gently pulling his head back until their lips broke apart. Breathing erratically, she managed to get out, "Not here. Now would actually be the time to take this upstairs." Seeing the dazed look still residing on Beck's face, Jade took the opportunity to break away from the embrace, and somehow made it up the stairs and into their room before Beck even registered that she had left.

/

Jade had no time to revel in her victory, for as soon as she got Beck's jacket and her shoes off, Beck had made it into the room. She let out an extremely girlish squeal as he tackled her to the bed and placed feather-light kisses on any exposed skin within reach. His lips were currently fastened to her collarbone when a door was slammed downstairs, and Betty's voice was heard shortly thereafter, exclaiming, "Kids...we're home! I hope you're dressed appropriately enough to come say goodnight to Nana before this birthday girl turns in for bed!"

Somehow, both Jade and Beck had missed the noise the door had made, but neither could ignore the older woman's words, nor the teasing resonance in which they were said.

Beck groaned and rolled off of Jade, while she released undistinguishable noises of frustration. "Relax Jade. We'll go downstairs, say goodnight to everyone, then come back up here and pick up right where we left off. I promise." The promise was sealed with a kiss, which was enough to calm Jade down for the impending future. After helping her off the bed, they made sure they were both presentable before exiting the room and retreating back down the stairs hand in hand.

As usual, it was up to Betty to break the silence in the room. "Ah, there's the little lovebirds. Here, we saved you some cake since you left before it was brought out." Seeing Beck opening his mouth to explain, Betty held up her hand to stop him. "No, no. It's perfectly fine dear. I may be 90 now, but I do remember what being young and in love is like. I do not blame you Jade, for walking out on my party, nor do I blame you Beck, for going after her. To be honest, I've never really cared for most of the things that come out of that old bat Ruth's mouth anyway. Hell, she's so delusional that she still thinks her husband is off to war and will be coming home to her soon." This brought a laugh to everyone in the room, (some more heartily than others) and allowed the young couple to feel comfortable, despite the looks being given to them by Beck's parents.

Beck let go of Jade's hand in order to take the cake from Betty, and put it in the fridge for he and Jade to eat later. Jade's eyes never left Beck the whole time he was away from her side, but she thought she had been subtle in her observation. Apparently though, she was mistaken.

After Beck had taken the cake from Betty, she observed the way Jade had watched his every movement. As she was making her observation, an epiphany suddenly sprung into Betty's mind. She waited until Beck rejoined the group before she voiced it. "Oh my gosh, I just had the best idea! Why don't you two stay an extra day and get married here tomorrow? It'll be so exciting, and I'll be able to watch my only grandson get married while I can still enjoy it." Betty either didn't see the deer-in-headlights looks on both Beck and Jade's faces, or she merely chose to just simply ignore them, and continued on. "Yes, you can think of it as a birthday present for me. We can fix up the barn, and your friends are already here, and I'm sure your parents would be more than happy to help, right Craig? Wouldn't you and Mary love to have Beck's wedding here on our property?" Betty knew her son and Mary's opinions regarding both Jade, as well as Beck's relationship with the Italian woman, but she was going to be damned if she let that stop her from seeing Beck marry the girl to whom Betty knew was his true love. She gave her son a look that told him he better agree with her, or else things wouldn't be pretty.

Though he'd been a grown man for many many years, Craig was still terrified of his mother. He quickly agreed with Betty.

"Wonderful. I'm glad we've got that settled." Betty looked as if Christmas had just come early for her, despite the fact that she just proclaimed the wedding to be her birthday present.

With tentative plans for the next day made, Craig quietly bid everyone goodnight, then both he and Mary made their way to their bedroom.

The atmosphere was instantly lightened with the departure of Beck's parents, and Beck took that time to thank his grandmother for the cake.

"You're very welcome Beck. Now I'm going to retire to bed as well, seeing as we now have a big day ahead of us tomorrow. You kids have a good night, but remember to take it easy. Don't want you to wear yourselves out too much so that you're too tired to get through your vows tomorrow...haha." With those parting words, Betty left the young couple alone as she headed to her bedroom.

Silently Beck and Jade once again made their way back upstairs and to their own bedroom, both with a multitude of thoughts running through their minds. Once they got there, and before Beck could utter one word, Jade beat him to the punch. "Well I don't know about you, but that completely ruined the mood for me. I say we just get some sleep tonight, then try to sort everything out tomorrow morning before things get too crazy. Agreed?"

"Yeah, I agree with you. Nana is great, and I love her to death, but she does have a knack for cooling off one's hormones. And I seriously cannot believe I just put those two things in the same sentence...uggggghhh." Beck couldn't control the subconscious shudder at the words that came out of his mouth. Hearing Jade's laughter told Beck that she wasn't as upset as he'd originally thought, and he was happy to realize he knew that. "Okay, I'm just going to grab my blanket and pillow now so I can make up my 'bed.'" He then proceeded to make his way to the bed, but was stopped by Jade's hand on his arm.

"Wait. You don't have to sleep on the floor tonight. I mean we're not going to go any further than what's already happened, but for now, I think it'll be okay for us to share the bed." Jade then left him standing there contemplating her words, while she took her pajamas into the bathroom to change.

Beck couldn't keep the huge smile off his face at the prospect of not only getting to sleep in the bed, but also potentially getting to snuggle with Jade. It wasn't how he expected his evening to end when they left the restaurant, but he'd take what he could get. He waited for Jade to finish in the bathroom before taking his own turn to change and perform his nightly ritual to get ready for bed. When he exited, he saw Jade already under the covers. Beck then made sure all the curtains were shut, and once satisfied, he climbed into bed beside Jade, but not too close in case she didn't want the contact. At first she turned her back on him, but gave him no time to question her actions before she had shifted once again, and he felt her body pressed up against his. He took the hint and turned so that he was lying on his side spooning her, and wrapped one arm around her stomach while folding the other one underneath his head. With no further words said, both fell asleep fairly quickly, with content smiles firmly planted on their faces.

**A/N: Well that's all for now folks. I believe everything I had to say was put in the beginning author's note, so for now Polska (going Polish) my precarious penguins :)**


	16. Chapter 16

**So I guess my original prediction came true. Sorry it took the whole three weeks guys, but thank you to all of you who are still sticking with this story. Never did I think I would have a story that reached 100 reviews. You guys are absolutely amazing! This chapter kind of took on a life of its own, but that's a good thing because now it's become a reward to all of you who've made it this far. Just a heads up, after taking stock of where we are in the story, I think there may only be one or two more chapters to go before it's done. I don't want to think about that right now though, so let's have some fun stuff instead.**

**Now it's time for the most fun of all...SHOUT OUT TIME!**

**Moltes gràcies (Catalan) to: DrizzyJ, Dawnmist of RiverClan, bella1985, Kaylee, SouthernB3lle, BadeFan4ever22, Victoriousjadefan, tikeshipper032, DrAmIoNeLoVeR1154, and last, but certainly not least, mina! :)**

**Sadly now, after fun time comes business time. Unfortunately the show is still going to be over because I do not own either **_Victorious _**or **_The Proposal_**. Boo to Nick! **

**Ok, that's all I'll say about that. For now, let's just get this show on the road! Enjoy! :D**

**Chapter 16**

Sunday morning came all too soon in Jade's opinion. Unlike the previous morning, however, she knew exactly where she was when she woke up, without having to even open her eyes. Armed with this knowledge, she felt a pleasantly content smile spread across her face as she realized that the "pillow" underneath her cheek and hand was actually the well-defined chest of one Beck Oliver. His arm was also wrapped comfortably around her back, with his hand resting on her hip.

Opening her eyes, Jade tilted her head as slowly as possible, so she was able to look up at Beck's sleeping face without waking him. _'I can't believe it took me this long to admit that I like him. I just hope he really does like me back, and isn't pretending in order to stay out of jail. Oh my god! What if he's only faking being into me because I promised to stop sabotaging his future auditions?'_

Jade was brought out of her inner monologue at the sound of Beck's voice. "So, I don't know about you, but that was one of the best night's sleep I've had in a long time."

Refocusing her sight, Jade realized Beck had caught her staring, and immediately averted her eyes back to his chest (which didn't really help too much). "Um, yeah. I slept pretty well too." As she spoke, Jade had begun to subconsciously rub small circles onto Beck's chest with her index finger. She stopped abruptly when she caught a glimpse of movement out of the corner of her eye.

Beck, having realized right away why Jade's hand had ceased its action, tried to downplay the situation. "Uh...hmm...s-sorry about t-that. It's j-just...you know...morning." A blush was forming on his face, but he used his free hand to cover his face, hoping it would go away before Jade noticed.

Fortunately for Beck, Jade was too preoccupied by 'little Beck,' (although, judging by the size of the tent in his boxers, it wasn't exactly _little_) to notice the redness of his cheeks. Knowing that it naturally happened to a lot of guys, but not knowing that Beck wasn't normally that _attentive_ in the mornings, Jade began to get more fascinated the longer she stared. She had never in the past woken up next to a guy. She usually slept with guys, and then left (because she never had guys over to her place) before they even had the chance to get redressed.

Feeling Jade's hand moving lower on his stomach, Beck's hand left his face to fly straight down and grab ahold of Jade's, in order to halt her progress. "W-what are you d-doing?" He asked, slightly surprised that she was being so bold so early in the morning.

Jade hadn't even been aware of her hand's traitorous path until she felt it encased within Beck's. Too embarrassed to admit that she was fascinated by what lay beneath the waistband of his boxers, Jade reverted back to what was comfortable for her, anger. "Well I certainly wasn't doing what you think I was about to do. If you must know, I was going to reach for the blanket because I was cold."

Instead of being bothered by Jade's words, they actually calmed Beck down, and he started laughing. "Uh huh...suuuuure you were. That's your lie and you can stick to it."

Forgoing all previous intentions, Jade let her anger take over in full force now. "What?! I was so not lying! As a matter of fact, I don't even want your stupid blanket anymore. I'll just go get another one out of the cupboard!"

As she made to sit up and actually follow through with her threat, however, Beck, having recovered from his laughing fit, and still _excited_ from Jade's earlier teasing, effectively stopped her by rolling over and pinning her body to the mattress with his own.

Jade attempted to struggle, but Beck was definitely stronger than her physically. The only thing she managed to accomplish with all of her movements was to make both of them even more aroused. After managing to capture both of her wrists within one hand, Beck used his free hand to grab the back of Jade's neck and pulled her face to his in a demandingly passionate kiss.

Not wanting to give in too easily and appear weak, Jade stopped her attempts to fight, but refused to kiss him back. After Beck had successfully maneuvered himself between her legs and she felt his _excitement_ pressed fully against her, she dropped all pretenses and finally kissed him back with equal fervor.

Realizing that Jade had finally become an active participant in their current activity, Beck released his hold on her wrists. His hands began rubbing along her sides, all the way to her hips and back up, as he trailed his lips across her jaw and down the side of her neck. He was headed towards the tops of her breasts when he was roughly yanked by his hair back up to her face.

"I don't know about you, but I for one think we've already had enough foreplay in this relationship. Now if you don't get rid of those boxers within the next thirty seconds, you'll be taking care of your own business. Got it?"

Rather than responding with words, Beck hurriedly tore off the offending item, while also managing to remove both Jade's pajama bottoms and underwear, all within the alloted time frame.

Unfortunately for his libido, this still wasn't good enough for Jade. Feeling the skin to skin contact below her waist made her crave that same connection with their chests. Instead of letting Beck continue towards his ultimate destination, Jade pushed on his shoulders so that she could sit up a little.

Beck's groan of disappointment was cut off when his eyes registered Jade's actions. She had just enough time to throw her shirt somewhere off to the side before Beck was once again attacking her lips with his own. He had also removed his shirt, and was presently creating a delicious friction between their upper bodies. He waited until Jade was ready, before finally connecting their lower halves.

Jade could do nothing but make nonsensical noise because of the feelings in which Beck was evoking from her body with each thrust of his hips.

Though Beck was able to actually produce sound, he wasn't fairing any better at being coherent. "Unnh...uhhhh...ohhhhh."

The two continued their steady rhythm, focusing solely on each other, and completing tuning out everything outside the bedroom door.

/

_Meanwhile..._

Upon awakening, Betty was eager to start planning for Beck and Jade's wedding. Unfortunately, Mary did not share her enthusiasm. "I'm sorry mom, but I just don't see why we're supporting this marriage. I mean prior to meeting Jade in person, I'd heard all kinds of awful things from Beck about her. Since they've been here I haven't really gotten to speak to either of them much, but from what I've seen, Jade has earned her reputation. Plus, Beck still hasn't explained to me why he's suddenly had this change of heart, and is now in a romantic relationship with her."

The two were eating breakfast and drinking their morning coffee while discussing the day's events.

"Oh Mary, you can't honestly tell me that you don't see the way Beck looks at Jade whenever he thinks no one else is aware? That boy's eyes shine with so much love every time she walks into the room I'm surprised there aren't fireworks. Now forget everything Beck has told you in the past about Jade, and the biased baloney that just came out of your mouth, and admit the truth. You're just upset because your _baby boy_ is growing up and you won't be the most important woman in his life anymore."

Sighing in defeat, Mary set her mug down and decided to open up to her mother-in-law. "As much as it pains me to say it, you're right. When Beck was engaged to Violet I thought I was okay with it, but I can't tell you how happy I was when they broke up. It was nothing against Violet either, because I love her like the daughter I never had. I just wasn't ready for my little boy to leave home." She paused to let out a sardonic laugh. "Of course then he went and broke my heart anyway by moving all the way to California, but obviously you already know all of this."

Betty nodded her head in acknowledgement. "Yes I remember that those days all too well. Of course I also remember the day my little boy came and told me you had accepted his proposal. I think that's what really upsets you the most. The fact that Beck didn't tell you about his engagement to Jade when it happened."

"That may be true, but there's still a part of me that refuses to believe there's not something else going on here. Things just seem too rushed, and the whole picture isn't adding up for me yet." Mary began picking at her food in order to avoid having to look into Betty's all-knowing eyes.

"Oh my dear, that is such a naive way of thinking. You of all people should realize there's a thin line between love and hate." A trademark wink accompanied the end of her statement. Mary's dear-in-headlights look told Betty her words were right on the mark.

Just as Mary opened her mouth to respond to Betty's words, the back door opened and Cat bounced in followed by Andre.

"Hi! Hi! Good morning! Isn't it a great day? I'm so excited because I get to hang out with Jadey again today! We're going to have so much fun!" Cat finally stopped to take a breath as she noticed the way the older women were looking at her.

"Oh my this is just perfect!" Betty looked at Cat as if the younger woman was the answer to all her prayers. Mary was also happy that Cat was there because it meant the bubbly red head could help Betty plan everything and Mary didn't have to do it.

"I'll just let mom explain everything to you guys. I'm going to go see if Craig needs any help outside." With those parting words, Mary left the others in the kitchen and made her way to the back yard.

/

"OMG! OMG! OMG! Jadey and Beck are getting married TODAY! EEEEEEEEKKKKKKKK!" Cat couldn't stop bouncing up and down and squealing after Betty informed her of the change in the day's events.

"Cat...baby...please calm down before you pass out. I love you girl, but you've gotta breathe every few seconds so I don't lose you." Andre punctuated his declaration by wrapping his arms around Cat to keep her on the ground, then kissing her forehead.

"Okay okay break it up you two. Cat and I need to get going because we've got tons of things to do in order to get everything ready for tonight. Now Andre, please let go of my helper so she can do her job, and you go wake up the lovebirds before they try to sleep the day away." Betty then proceeded to link her arm in Cat's, and the two went out to the barn to start planning.

Andre had made it all the way to the top of the staircase before he was hit with an eerie sense of something he couldn't name. Shaking if off, he proceeded towards the door to Beck and Jade's room. Fist poised in mid-air, two seconds away from knocking, he heard noises he thought he'd never again hear in his life.

"Uhh...unnnh...ohhh...yessssss." The feeling of déjà vu returned full force and Andre couldn't stop a chuckle from escaping his lips. He quickly stuffed his fist into his mouth so as not to be heard (little did he know that there was zero chance of that actually happening since the room's occupants were in their own little world).

Once he calmed down, Andre decided that he was going to have some fun with Beck. He was going to bust open the door, but not actually walk into the room because he knew once something is seen, it can never be unseen, and Andre was very sure that he didn't want to see what was going on beyond the closed door. As soon as he had the thought, however, he was once again stopped from action, but this time it was by a new voice emanating from inside the bedroom.

"Fuck Beck che si sente così bene! AHHH... OH MIO DIO SÌ!" (**Fuck Beck that feels so good! AHHH...OH MY GOD YES!**). Andre's jaw fell so far and so fast he thought it must have dislocated. Promptly spinning around on his heel, he descended the stairs as quickly as possible. Then, without even slowing down, he walked straight out the back door to join Cat and Betty in the barn.

/

"I don't know where the hell you learned all that, and I really don't want to know, but if you keep giving me orgasms like the ones I just had, we're never going to leave this room." Jade was laying in a position similar to the one she had been in upon awakening, except this time both she and Beck were naked, and one of her legs was currently entangled within his. Her fingers were tracing random patterns on Beck's chest, but this time Jade wasn't looking at her hand. She had her head propped up, and was too busy staring into Beck's eyes as she spoke.

Beck, still riding high from his own mind-blowing orgasm, could only smile widely at Jade's statement. His arm had taken its natural place around Jade's back, while his hand was playing with tendrils of her hair. Once he felt coherent enough to speak he said, "First of all, can I get that in writing because I think that may be the only compliment you've ever given me." Beck wasn't deterred by Jade's light-hearted smack on his chest, and continued with, "Seriously though, thank you for that ego boost. I hate to admit it, but pretty much all of my sexual knowledge came from reading things on the internet."

Jade let out an amused snort at his confession, while Beck slightly chuckled, happy that he was the source of both Jade's smile and her glowing skin.

Knowing that what Beck just admitted wasn't the complete truth because he had been with other women before her, Jade chose to effectively end that subject by bringing up another. "So, just out of curiosity, do you think there's any way to talk your grandmother out of having the wedding today, and letting us wait a little longer?"

Jade had placed her head had back on Beck's chest, therefore she missed the disappointed look in his eyes as she spoke about delaying the wedding. Only a short amount of time had passed since they had gotten 'engaged,' but Beck was already starting to think of the wedding with fondness, as opposed to the dread he had felt before coming to Irricana.

"I don't think so. Once Nana gets an idea in her head, it's kinda hard to talk her out of it. She really likes to play the 'I won't be around much longer so please do this for me' card every chance she gets. Plus, what's the big deal? Why can't we just go ahead and have the wedding today to humor Nana?" Beck had been rubbing designs on Jade's back as he talked, and the sensations he was producing, along with the smooth cadence in his voice, caused Jade to drift off into her own little world.

Snapping back to reality as she actually processed Beck's words, Jade found herself afraid of the way she was reacting to them. She had finally come to terms with the fact that she actually liked Beck in the romantic sense, but after their little rendezvous this morning, she found herself realistically picturing a future with him, and that scared the living hell out of her. As a result, instead of speaking openly and telling Beck how she really felt about the situation, she once again chose to suppress the truth, and went with the more familiar emotion, anger.

Sitting up and away from him, (to maintain her anger by avoiding physical contact) Jade began spouting off whatever excuses she could think of, no matter how petty they sounded. "What's the big deal?! WE'RE STILL IN CANADA! That alone should be a good enough reason to not get married today. Another one is the fact that your parents hate me. Then, after the scene last night at your grandma's birthday dinner, I'm sure at least half of this whole town now hates me as well." Realizing that she really had nothing else to say to continue supporting her anger, Jade wrapped the bed sheet around her body and left the bed to go into the bathroom.

As soon as Jade began her angry 'rant,' Beck's eyes started to glaze over. '_God she is so sexy when she's all fired up about something. I don't even know what she's saying, but it doesn't really matter. Wait...why is she leaving the bed? Where is she going?'_ Coming out of his Jade-induced wanderings, Beck sprung up out of bed, not caring at all that he didn't have any clothes on, and stopped her by standing in front of the bathroom door.

"Move out of my way Beck. I need to go to the bathroom."

"Sorry Jade, no can do. We're going to go back to the bed and calmly talk about this like rational adults, because I'm sure that the lies you just spouted off sounded much better to you than they did to me." Having learned that physical contact is about the only thing that calms Jade down, Beck wrapped his arms around her in a hug. Being that close to her, he couldn't resist planting soft feather-light kisses down the side of her neck. When she finally tilted her head to make it easier for him, he began walking them backwards towards the bed.

Their progress was halted, however, by a loud banging on the bedroom door and Cat's voice calling out, "Jadey! Are you awake yet? You're getting married today so you can't sleep the day away silly! Can I come in Jadey?"

**A/N: Well there you have it. I hope this one lived up to any expectations you guys may have had. I promise the next chapter will deal with the wedding. Until then, Hade (just saw a cruise ship commercial, so this one's Norwegian) my heavenly hamsters! :D**


	17. Chapter 17

**Hey look...an update just like I promised! Ok gang, I have good news and bad news. The bad news is that this story has finally come to a close. The good news that, as you can see, I made this chapter extra super long to reward all of your loyalty and dedication to my first story on this site. I could go on and on about how thankful I am to each and every one of you, but instead I'll make this short and sweet so the good stuff can come more quickly.**

**Now, for the very last time, (boo!) I get to say...it's SHOUT OUT TIME! **

**Think for this one we're going to go back to English. A MASSIVE, HUGE, GIGANTIC, ENORMOUS THANK YOU to: Dawnmist of RiverClan, BadeFan4ever22, xFabinao, Victoriousjadefan, SouthernB3lle, (all for Chapter 16) and FlinxLover3evr (for Chapter 10). :D**

**Even though the show's now over as well, (another boo!) and the movie was only a one-time thing, I do not, nor will I ever, own either **_Victorious_** or **_TheProposal_**.**

**Okay, now you can enjoy our last mile... :)**

**Chapter 17**

Though seeing Cat was the furthest thing from her mind right at the moment, Jade knew she had to give the other girl an answer before the redhead took it upon herself to enter the bedroom and possibly be scarred for life. "Yes Cat, I'm awake, but do NOT come in here! I'll meet you downstairs in a few minutes!"

"Kay Kay. See you soon!"

Jade wouldn't let herself relax until she heard the sound of Cat walking down the stairs. Turning back to face Beck, she saw the mischievous look in his eyes, as well as felt him tugging at the sheet still wrapped around her body, but she shut him down before he could take things further again. "Oh no no no mister. You heard Cat. I've got to get downstairs now and I guess help plan for this stupid wedding we're going to have." Just thinking about what was to come that day caused Jade to visibly shudder.

"I can't tell you how much that means to me to hear you react that way to marrying me." The only thing he received in response was a roll of the eyes from her. "Oh come on Jade. It's not going to be that bad. So we put on a little act for Nana. You knew we were going to have to get married eventually anyway." This time as he spoke, Beck let go of Jade, found some clean clothes, and got dressed, not even bothering to go into the bathroom. He never gave her a chance to respond as he continued with, "Oh by the way, Nana's a big stickler for tradition, so I guess I won't see you again until tonight. By the way, I'll be the one waiting by the altar." With a wink and a parting kiss to Jade's cheek, he was gone.

Groaning in frustration over the current situation, as well as how fast her feelings towards Beck were moving, Jade took the quickest shower known to man and hurriedly got dressed, then also made her way downstairs.

By the time Jade made it to the living room, only Cat was there. The others, Jade figured, must have gone outside to hopefully stay out of her way. As she saw the red head's mouth open to speak, Jade held up her hand and started talking before Cat got the chance. "Okay, here's how things are going to go today. You're not going to be bouncy or get overly excited about anything. I'm going to tell you what I want and you and everybody else are not going to argue. Understood?"

"Eep. Yes Jadey. I promise I'll be good because today is your day." Cat started to flounce over to the Italian woman, but was stopped by a harsh glare. She immediately stopped right were she was and waited for further instructions from the bride-to-be.

/

Upon leaving the house, Beck found Andre hanging out on the back porch. "Hey man, how's it going?"

"How's it going? Oh you know, not much. Just planning my BEST FRIEND'S WEDDING TODAY! How did this even happen? I thought you guys were waiting until you got back to California, then doing the Justice of the Peace thing?" Contrary to his tone of voice, Andre really wasn't mad. He was just still surprised from the unexpected news he received not too long ago.

"Uh yeah dude. A LOT has happened since I saw you last night." Beck was rubbing the back of his neck like a little kid who didn't want to admit he peaked at his Christmas present.

Forgetting all about the wedding for the moment, Andre was brought back to even more recently when he went to wake up Beck and Jade. Seizing the perfect opportunity to once again tease his best friend, Andre said, "Oh trust me. I know _all about_ what happened not twenty minutes ago when I went upstairs to get you up. Imagine the déjà vu I felt when I heard some familiar noises, and realized you were already _up_." Andre's words were accompanied by a teasing eyebrow raise. Holding his hand up to ward off Beck's response, he continued with, "Now I don't know which one of us is luckier because I was literally two seconds away from scaring you by throwing open the door, but then I heard Jade's voice, and I can't tell you how happy I am that I didn't follow through on that plan." The boys shared a light chuckle at Andre's revelation.

Realizing Andre was done for the moment, Beck opened his mouth to finally respond.

"Yeah me too man. You have no idea how bad it was when nothing further happened last night."

"Wait wait wait. So you're telling me that after I brought you guys back here last night after all that action at the restaurant _nothing_ happened?"

"Weeeeeeell I wouldn't exactly say that _nothing_ happened, but it was nowhere near this morning's activities." Beck refused to look at Andre as he spoke for fear of seeing the teasing gleam that lived in his best friend's eyes every time they talked about Beck's love life. "Of course last night we couldn't keep our hands off each other as soon as the door shut, but when I tried to take it further, Jade stopped me so we could 'talk.'" Beck saw Andre's wince of empathy out of the corner of his eye.

"Ouch. How'd that go?" Andre wanted to tease his friend, but for once he took pity on Beck and let the other man get the whole story out, thereby hopefully giving Andre more ammunition.

"Actually better than I originally thought. Jade admitted that she has genuine feelings for me and wants our relationship to be real." At this point Beck did glance in Andre's direction to show that he was being serious.

Andre wanted to be more excited for Beck, but seeing Beck's lack of enthusiasm at what was just revealed held his excitement at bay for the moment. "Wow. That's great bro. Isn't it? Why don't you seem too happy about that news?"

"To be honest Dre, I'm scared. As crazy as this whole situation is between me and Jade, I really do love her. I haven't felt this way about any woman since Violet. The part that scares me though, is the fact that what I feel for Jade doesn't even compare to what I felt for Violet. I don't know if it's because I'm older, or have dated my fair share of girls since Violet and I broke up, but this thing between me and Jade goes way beyond anything I ever thought I could feel for a woman." Beck, surprised at himself by what he just admitted, decided that he'd said enough, and became silent.

Andre was also stunned by the words that Beck spoke, and for several minutes, no sound emanated from either man. Andre opened his mouth a couple of times, but nothing ever came out. Finally on the fourth attempt he was able to get out, "At the risk of being redundant, wow. For as long as I've known you, I have never heard you speak about any woman that way before. I'm happy for you man. I still don't fully understand your guys' relationship, but as your best friend, you have my full support." Andre had moved so that he was standing next to Beck, and ended his sentiment with a friendly slap on Beck's back.

"Andre, in case I don't tell you enough, thanks for being my friend. It's nice to know that there's more people approving our relationship than are against it. And as scared as I am, I'm really looking forward to getting married tonight." Beck's genuine smile cemented the truth to his statement.

"Speaking of the wedding, we need to get on into town to get us some tuxedos. Unless you want to stay here and help the womenfolk plan all the details for tonight?" Andre asked with an inquisitive eyebrow.

Beck's eyes grew large at the thought of being unprepared for the wedding. "No no no. You're right. We need to get the tuxes. Like now."

"It's good to hear you say that. Because for a minute there I thought that being back in Irricana had turned you into a woman." Beck's punch to Andre's arm was made with very little effort, and therefore did nothing to deter the darker skinned boy from continuing, although there was more laughter included with the second half of his statement. "It's true! Since we've been here, we've talked more about your feelings towards Jade than we've ever spoken in our entire friendship about any woman you've ever dated. I was thinking that I'd have to take you to a football game as soon as we get back to Hollywood, and make you drink a whole case of beer just to bring back the male side of my best friend...haha."

Regaining his composure after laughing along with Andre, Beck said, "Yeah, being back here has changed me, but in my opinion, it's all been for the better."

Andre had sobered up and stopped laughin. "For once in a rare moment, I actually agree with you Beck. It's good to see you being so serious about someone again. Now let's go get those tuxedos before the girls realize we're still here."

Beck and Andre leapt off the porch and sprinted all the way across the yard and down to the boat dock, with the remnants of their laughter echoing behind them.

/

They had only been in the midst of planning the wedding for an hour, but in Jade's opinion, that was 59 minutes too long. She would have been happy to get some white roses, dye them black, then use them as her bouquet. Contrary to what she had told Cat earlier, she really had zero interest in anything else regarding the ceremony. She was brought out of her internal musings at the sound of Betty's voice.

"Oh Jade, have you given any thought as to what you want your dress to look like?" At Betty's question, she, Cat and Mary (who had reluctantly come back inside and decided to passively help) all glanced at Jade curiously.

Before Jade had a chance to answer, Cat chimed in with her own, "Oh my gosh Jadey! You should wear a pink dress! Then you can look like cotton candy when you walk down the aisle!"

"Um no, not really. But as for a pink dress, NO!" Jade's mostly disinterested tone did nothing to deter the older woman. It actually had the opposite effect, and for the second time in less than an hour, Betty's eyes lit up like a kid on Christmas morning.

"Excellent. Excellent. I was hoping you would say that because I have the perfect solution!" Betty waited for a minute as she let the suspicion and anticipation build.

Finally, just as Jade opened her mouth to demand that Betty spit out the answer, she felt her jaw fall even more and her eyes threatened to leave their sockets at the words she heard.

"You can wear the dress I wore at my wedding! I still have it. It's up in the attic, but don't worry dear, it's in a plastic bag so it should still be in perfect condition." Excited about the prospect of finally getting to pass her dress on, (Mary had chosen to wear a dress of her own choosing) Betty grabbed Mary's arm, and the two proceed to make their way to the attic.

As soon as the older women were out of earshot, Jade rounded on Cat with a look rarely ever seen on her face, nervousness. The only reason Cat was allowed to see Jade so vulnerable now was because the two were practically sisters, and had gone through just about everything together. "Cat listen. I know Beck and I are supposed to get married today, but I really don't know if I can do this." She was about to tell Cat her fear of Beck not really loving her, and just marrying her to advance his career, but then she remembered that she hadn't told Cat the full story yet. She decided to conclude with, "Things are just moving so fast, and I'm not really sure if I'm ready for all of this right now."

Luckily for Jade, Cat herself was having a rare moment of clarity. She calmly walked up to Jade and said, "Jade it's okay to be nervous on your wedding day. As long as you and Beck love each other then that's all that matters. When that love is real, there's no such thing as moving too fast." And just like that, Cat was back to her crazy, bubbly self. "You're so lucky to be marrying Beck today. I can't wait until the day I get to marry my own Canadian cupcake...hehe."

Still not fully ready for that evening's festivities, but surprisingly feeling a little better than she had been before their talk, Jade gave Cat a quick hug of thanks. Just as to two separated, Betty and Mary came back with the aforementioned wedding dress.

"Here we go. Jade why don't you go try this on so we can see where it needs to be taken in." Betty passed the dress off to Jade, who took it reluctantly. The bride-to-be then sulked upstairs to change.

Twenty five minutes later, Jade finally rejoined the crowd in the living room, carrying roughly half of the dress in her arms. "Betty I know you implied that the dress would be big on me, but I don't think you have ever been this big in your entire life. As Jade made it to the bottom of the staircase, she dropped the fabric from her arms, causing what was actually on her body to give the appearance of a little girl playing dress up with her mother's clothes.

"Oh yes my dear. There was a time when that dress actually did fit me, but fortunately those days are long gone. Now let me see what we can do to make it a little more presentable on you." Making her way over to Jade, Betty began to tug and pull and fuss with the fabric. Eventually her hands made their way to the bodice, where they proceeded to (in Jade's opinion) grope the Italian woman. "Sweetie I know you're not small chested because that dress you wore to dinner last night attested to that fact, but trying to find your boobs in this dress is like hunting for Easter eggs."

Starting to feel uncomfortable by Betty's wandering hands, but not wanting to yell at Beck's grandmother, Jade stood there and let the search continue. She was just about to reach out, grab Betty's hands, and physically place them on her boobs in order to move on, when Betty finally found what she was looking for.

"Oh there they are! Guess we'll really have to pin this dress back to show off those puppies." She then placed pins all over the dress to designate where it was to be altered, thereby restricting Jade's current movements.

By the time Jade was released to change back into her regular clothes for the time being, she had decided that she really didn't care about any of the planning anymore. Making her presence once again known downstairs, she handed the dress back to Betty while saying, "Okay ladies I'm done. You have my express permission to do whatever you want in terms of the details for tonight. Just tell me when and where to show up and I'll be there. For now though, I'm going to go take a walk." She then walked straight out the door without even bothering to wait for a response.

/

After spending as much time as possible getting everything taken care of in town, Beck and Andre made their way back to the Oliver house to get ready. Beck checked to make sure that Jade wasn't in the house before taking his shower. Afterwards, he went to the barn where a side room was set up for he and Andre to get ready (per Betty's instructions) without fear of running into Jade.

The ceremony was scheduled to commence at 7 o'clock, and just about everything was in place by 6:30. Beck was mingling around the barn interacting with guests and helping to escort them to their seats. He had just shown Violet to her seat ("_Thanks for coming Violet. It means a lot that you're here._" "_Tell your grandma I said thanks for inviting me. You know I can still read you like a book though, so just RELAX and enjoy the moment._") and made his way back to the end of the aisle when he saw his father (who only attended for fear of Betty's consequences if he didn't) talking to the last man he ever thought he'd see so soon again.

"Michael, I'm so glad you could make it on such short notice. I was surprised and very disheartened to hear that Beck did not invite you himself." Craig, seeing Beck out of the corner of his eye, motioned his son to join their conversation.

Begrudgingly, Beck made his way over and put on his most apologetic face. "Mr. Amberson. I'm so sorry that we didn't invite you, but neither Jade nor myself was originally planning to have the wedding this weekend. It was really a last minute decision, requested by my grandmother, and she took charge of handling all the arrangements."

"No need to apologize Mr. Oliver. Your dad called me this morning to inform me of the plans, and even ensured that I made it here on time. It's actually very fortunate for you that I am in attendance, because my validation today will mean very little need for frequent check-ups in the future."

"Yes. how very fortunate indeed." Beck cast a sarcastic look at his father, unnoticed by Mr. Amberson. "Now I hate to break up your conversation, but the ceremony is about to start soon, so you should probably find a seat."

"Good idea. It was nice speaking with both of you, and I look forward to this evening." With those parting words, Mr. Amberson made his way to his seat.

Speaking no more to his father, Beck turned and followed behind Mr. Amberson, but kept walking until he got to the altar, where he took his spot next to Andre, and waited for Jade.

/

_At the same time..._

"Here we are! Just in time for the wedding!" Betty appeared in the living room carrying her old wedding dress, hemmed as well as possible given the time constraints. Looking around, she only found Cat waiting for her. "Where are the others dear?"

Cat had been twirling around admiring her own dress (courtesy of Violet from a shop on the mainland) when she registered Betty's words. "Um, Beck's mom just left to go to the barn to sit with Beck's dad, and I haven't seen Jadey since she left for her walk. Oh my gosh, I just can't believe that this dress Violet got for me is so pretty!"

Trying to refocus Cat's attention, Betty said, "Cat, sweetie, what do you mean you haven't seen Jade since she left earlier? That was three hours ago! She hasn't come back at all in that time?"

"Not that I know of, but I wasn't here the whole time. Should I go look for her?"

"Yes Cat, why don't you go do that. I'll finish getting ready myself, then go to the barn and make sure no one suspects that anything is amiss. We'll meet back here in ten minutes okay?"

"Kay kay." Cat then flounced out of the house and made her way in the direction opposite the barn, hollering for Jade as she walked.

Ten minutes later, the two women reconvened in the living room, with Betty beginning to lose her calm demeanor at the sight of Cat without Jade. "Did you not find Jade anywhere?"

"Well I called and called for her, but the only thing I heard were birds and squirrels."

"Cat, what's that in your hand?"

"Oh! I found this note sticking out from under the doormat when I came back inside. It has Jade's handwriting on it. I think it might be important."

Restraining from yelling at the redhead, Betty held out her hand, and Cat gave her the note. She opened it and began to read it aloud:

_Dear Beck (or whoever finds this...hopefully it's someone who won't destroy it),_

_This letter is going to be short, as I don't have much time to write. I just want to say that I'm so sorry for taking the coward's way out, but I just couldn't stay knowing that my feelings for you (Beck) are genuine, while yours are merely an act of self-preservation. I promise I will take care of everything when I get back to Hollywood, and no repercussions will come to you. Even though it will not be with me, I hope you have a very happy life because you definitely deserve it. Enclosed is a card for the second best (after me of course) director in the business. Give him a call when you get back. I'll put in a good word for you. Please don't bother coming after me, as I will probably be well on my way back to Italy by the time this letter reaches you (that is if my business in California goes as well as expected). I have to go now. Tell Cat I'm sorry, and I'll explain everything to her as soon as I can. Take care of yourself._

_All my love,_

_Jade_

"Oh my gosh! Jadey's gone? We have to tell Beck so he can go find her!" Cat made to leave and go to the barn when she was stopped by Betty.

"Let me do it Cat. I need to get Beck alone because, based on this note, I think there's more to the story than we know. You stay here in case by some crazy coincidence Jade returns." At Cat's nod of agreement, Betty left the house.

/

Pulling Beck into a side room once she got to the barn, Betty explained to him all that had happened that day, then showed him the note.

Slightly outraged that Jade didn't believe his feelings to be real, as well as angered that she just left without first talking to him, Beck felt disinclined to immediately go after her.

Understanding completely, Betty didn't push him in either direction. She simply led him back into the main room, and did all of the talking when they got there. "I'm sorry folks, but the wedding will have to be postponed for today. It seems as if the bride has fallen ill, and cannot get married at this moment."

From the front row, Craig stood and bellowed for the whole barn to hear, "I knew it! She doesn't really love my son! She was tired of him using her and she finally came to her senses! I'm glad to see that this sham of a relationship had finally been exposed and is over!"

Hearing those words, Mr. Amberson made his way to where Beck was standing to the side of his grandmother. "Mr. Oliver, is this true? That your whole relationship a sham, as I suspected from the beginning?"

Seeing that a panicked look had replaced the anger on Beck's face, Betty took control of the situation once more. Whispering into Beck's ear she said, "I'll distract everyone. You go get that fiancee of yours and make things right." Turning back to the audience, "Oh no! I think I'm having a heart attack! Someone help!" She dramatically fell to the ground as Craig, Mary, and Mr. Amberson (as he was already right there) gathered around her.

Grabbing Andre's arm, Beck led the other man stealthily out of the barn. As they made their way across the lawn Beck said, "No time to explain right now man. Just know that we've got to get to the mainland, then the airport, as soon as possible!"

Seeing her boyfriend and Beck outside, Cat made her way out to join them. When the three reached the boat dock, they were disappointed to find that apparently Jade had taken the Oliver family boat, and they had no transportation.

Fortunately for Beck, Sikowitz (who happened to be at the wedding as the officiator-he was the only one in town licensed to perform a marriage) had arrived on the island via helicopter (he was also a licensed pilot). He was leaning against it and sipping from a coconut when he spotted the three looking around for a boat. "You guys need to go to the mainland?"

"Yes!" Seeing the helicopter, Beck decided to try his luck further. "We actually need to go to the airport in Calgary. Can you fly us there?"

Asking no further questions, Sikowitz simply said, "Sure. Climb on in."

The four quickly made themselves ready for the flight, and once they were in the air, Beck finally allowed himself to reflect on the last fifteen minutes of his life, and plan how he was going to convince Jade of his feelings. Hopefully that would get her to come back and actually go through with the wedding.

/

Not only was the Oliver name big in Irricana, it also afforded Beck some very nice privileges elsewhere, like the Calgary International Airport for instance. Andre and Cat had to wait behind the gates, while Beck was able to make his way to the terminals without having to first purchase a ticket.

Reaching the gate headed for Hollywood, Beck looked around, but couldn't find Jade anywhere. He had just spoken to the ticket agent, who denied seeing Jade, when he decided to make his way back to Andre and Cat. His head was down, and as he was walking dejectedly past the bathrooms, he accidentally ran into someone. "Oh excuse me. I'm sorry, I wasn't watching where I was going." Looking up to see the other person, he was taken aback to realize it was the woman for whom he was searching. "Jade! Oh my god I'm so glad I found you! Will you please talk to me and not get on that plane?"

Jade really wanted to say no and just walk away. She felt as if everything she needed to say was already expressed in the note she had left for him to find. Plus, she knew that if she stayed behind to talk with him, her resolve would crumble, and she'd never want to leave. She opened her mouth to tell him no when she happened to make the mistake of looking directly into his eyes. At the look she saw in them, she could do nothing but agree, and allowed him to lead them somewhere private to talk.

"I got your letter Jade. Now before you say anything, I just want you to know that just about everything you said in that thing regarding me was a lie. Contrary to your belief, my feelings for you are 100% genuine as well. I don't know what I've done to make you think otherwise, but I don't just love you. Jade, I am _in love_ with you. I'm so in love with you that if you left me, I'd fly all the way to Italy just to bring you back. If we can't stay in Hollywood, it doesn't matter. We can live in Canada or anywhere else in the world. As long as I'm with you, everything else will sort itself out." As he spoke, he put his hand on Jade's cheek and wiped away the tears that had gathered in her eyes. Not giving her a chance to respond at first, Beck framed her face with both hands and kissed her, unleashing all of the pent up feelings she refused to believe were real into the kiss.

Watching Beck's eyes as he spoke, Jade couldn't help but believe every word that came out of his mouth. Had he actually given her time to speak, she wouldn't have been able to say anything anyway. So when he began kissing her passionately, she could do nothing but kiss him back with equal fervor.

Breaking for air, Beck spoke once more. "Are you convinced now?" At her nod he continued. "Good. So how about we go back to Irricana and give everyone the show they all came to see?" Beck's smile was so infectious and child-like that Jade's own answering smile stretched from ear to ear. Grabbing her hand, the two made their way back to the security gates, where they were met by more than just Andre, Cat, and Sikowitz.

/

Seeing Mr. Amberson, his parents, and his grandma there didn't exactly surprise Beck. Jade, on the other hand, stopped suddenly, feeling as if the wind had been knocked out of her. Her widened eyes showed just how surprised she was, and she turned to run back towards the gate, but was stopped by Beck's arms around her waist.

At first everyone just stared at each other without speaking. Eventually it was Mr. Amberson who broke the silence. "Mr. Oliver, Ms. West. I don't know about everyone else here, but I for one am extremely confused as to what is going on. Would either of you care to explain things to me?"

"Well, you see sir-" Beck had begun to speak, but was cut off by Jade.

"Actually I can explain everything." At Beck's curious raise of the eyebrow, Jade gave him a look saying '_trust me...I got this_.' He gave a subtle nod showing her that he did trust her, and would go along with whatever she said. "As I was saying, this is actually all my fault. As many brides do, I got cold feet on my wedding day, and instead of speaking with my fiance, I did the immature thing and ran away. I can't tell you how glad I am that Beck stopped me in time from making the biggest mistake of my life. If he hadn't have talked some sense into me, I believe that I would've always regretted my decision. Now Mr. Amberson, I don't know how you found out about the wedding, (she conveniently ignored Craig's guilty expression) but I would like to assure you that your trip will not have been in vain."

"I think that I'm finally starting to believe that you are telling the truth for once Ms. West, but now I'm confused as to what you mean by your last statement. Are you saying that there will be a wedding today after all?"

"That is exactly what I'm saying Mr. Amberson. If it's okay with everyone else, although I really don't care because all I need is an officiator, but it actually means something to Beck to have you guys there, I'd like to get back to Beck's family's house so we can get this show on the road."

Ironically this time it was Mary who stopped Jade from advancing anywhere. "Wait. Why don't you guys just get married here?" At everyone's confused looks, she expounded on her statement. "I mean it's unfortunate that the rest of the guests aren't here, but we've got our officiator, (she pointed at Sikowitz) our family, your best man Beck, and your maid of honor Jade. What's stopping us from having our own little ceremony right now?"

Taking Mary's question as the acceptance of their wedding that she hoped it was, Jade didn't dare have the heart to say no to her future mother-in-law. Instead, she rationally pointed out the fact that they were in the airport, which was not the ideal place to hold a wedding.

It was Beck who helped Jade accept their current location. "Come on babe. I know it's not the ideal place, but think of the amazing story this will make to tell our kids someday? I mean how many people can say they were married in an airport? Besides, do you really want to wait any longer to find a 'suitable' location to become Mrs. Oliver?"

It was the combination of the puppy eyes and him calling her Mrs. Oliver that was Jade's undoing. "Okay, we can get married here."

"Excellent! Let's find somewhere to set up, then get this party started!" Betty had been quiet for way too long in her opinion, and took full advantage of the opportunity to speak.

**20 minutes later**

"Take this ring and place it on Jade's finger as you repeat after me."

Beck did as Sikowitz instructed, and repeated the words recited to him. "I Beck, take you Jade, to be my lawfully wedded wife. To have and to hold, for better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, and forsaking all others, love only you until death do us part." He gave her hand a loving squeeze as he finished speaking.

"Now Jade it's your turn. Take this ring and place in on Beck's finger while repeating after me." Jade took the ring and spoke the vow instructed of her.

"Good. Good. Now, with the exchanging of rings, you two have symbolized your everlasting love and devotion to each other. If there are no objections?" Sikowitz glanced around at the little assembled group, but Jade's glare silenced anyone who even thought about objecting. Hearing only silence, Sikowitz continued. "Excellent! Then by the power vested in me by the province of Alberta, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss...oh wait, you're already doing that...never mind. Ladies and gentleman, may I present to you, Mr. and Mrs. Beck Oliver!"

Not only did their little group clap in happiness, but everyone who was in the vicinity of the proceedings also gave a round of applause to the happy couple.

After the buzz of excitement died down, Cat was the first to say something. "Now we can go back and have the cake I made, right?"

Before anyone had a chance to answer, Andre stepped up in front of Cat and dropped down to one knee while holding up an open ring box. "Actually seeing as how Beck and Jade no longer need all the decorations in the barn, and I was going to do this later tonight anyway, I figured we could go ahead and take advantage of all the hard work you and Betty put into everything. Cat, I have loved you since even before we got together. Nothing would mean more to me than for you to officially be mine. With that said, will you do me the honor of saying yes and becoming my wife lil red?"

Stunned speechless for probably the first time in her life, Cat could only nod her head frantically and pull Andre up to her waiting lips. Somehow he managed to slip the pink diamond onto her finger just before that happened.

As fresh congratulations were given to the newly engaged couple, Mr. Amberson pulled Beck and Jade off to an even more private place where they wouldn't be overheard. "Once again I would like to extend my congratulations to you both, and just want to tell you Ms. West, excuse me, Mrs. Oliver, that your citizenship will be legalized as soon as you return to California. We only ask that you allow us to randomly drop by for home visits if we feel they are needed, and that you check in with someone from our office once a year." After receiving their agreement to his requests, Mr. Amberson bid them goodbye, stating that since he was already at the airport and his attendance was no longer needed, he may as well fly home.

As everyone began leaving the airport to go back to Irricana for what would now be Andre and Cat's wedding, Beck took his chance to speak to Jade while they had a few private minutes. "Thanks for staying and hearing me out. I love you so much, and can't wait to spend the rest of my life proving to you that you didn't make the wrong decision."

Kissing him sweetly on the lips, Jade responded with, "Oh god. So I get to be reminded every day that I married someone who is such a sap? Lucky me." Her eye roll and slight chuckle elicited a responding chuckle from Beck.

"Yeah I may be a sap, but that's just one of the many reasons you love me Mrs. Oliver."

"Lord knows why, but yes I do love you and all of your sappiness Mr. Oliver."

Hand in hand, the newlyweds walked out of the airport, and into their new lives together.

**A/N: Well that's it. It's been a long, fun journey, but we have finally reached our destination. Again I want to thank all of my little hitchhikers who have been with me from the beginning, as well as those we've picked up along the way. I know I'll write another story in the future, because I've got a ton of random ideas bouncing around my head, but I make no promises as to when the next one will be out. Until then, Hasta la vista my harmonious hummingbirds. :)**


End file.
